Tales of the Fairies
by Ogro
Summary: After the battle with the Oracion Seis, the war between the Balam and Light Alliances has continued. Natsu, after leaving the guild for two years to train with Igneel, returns to Fairy Tail to find that everything has changed.
1. Homecoming

**Author's Notes: Thanks for deciding to read this story! I know the Fairy Tail section isn't that big, so I want to contribute something new to it. This takes place two years after the Oracion Seis arc, so anything after that is pretty much disregarded, though some things may be changed as new revelations pop up.**

**This story will be composed of several story arcs, like the manga series. I suppose you can call this one the Homecoming Arc, since I guess it's a small one.**

_**Tales of the Fairies**_

**Chapter One – Homecoming**

Magnolia Town had changed in the last two years.

The town itself wasn't that much different – the same buildings stood, the same people went about their daily errands. Some even recognized him as he passed and waved to him in greeting, expressing happiness over his return. But most of the people seemed withdrawn and afraid, eager to return to the shelter of their own homes. However, upon seeing him, their expressions changed to more cheerful ones.

Natsu Dragonil put his hands behind his head and sighed cheerfully. "It's good to be home," he said with a wide grin. He missed Lucy and Happy, as well as Erza and Gray, he had to admit to himself. Hell, he even missed the old man!

"Hey there, Natsu! Haven't seen you in a while!"

"Welcome back, Natsu!"

"It's good to see Fairy Tail members walking around again!" said one woman. Upon hearing this, Natsu froze and turned to her, putting his hands on her shoulders.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked her urgently. The hapless woman stared at him wide-eyed.

"Fairy Tail doesn't come around these parts anymore. One day, they just up and left. You don't know where they all went?"

"No, I don't. Do you?" he questioned, nearly shaking the woman. She paused for a second.

"No, nobody knows. Most of us relied on you all to protect us from the war, but now we live in constant fear of being attacked." He stepped away from her, his face turning grim. He knew full well of the war, since it was already in full force by the time he left the guild. Most of his days away were spent in seclusion, quietly training his abilities to the fullest potential, but on the way home, he witnessed many of the war's effects on the people and the world.

He came back to return to his guild, to find out if the tide was turning or how much worse it had become. He had been separated from the rest of the world for far too long. For the first time, he began to fear the fates of his friends. Was Fairy Tail even around anymore? How many people were lost?

Natsu closed his eyes, gritting his teeth. No, his Nakama were stronger than that. They had to be alive.

"Thanks, lady," he said to the woman quickly, and he ran off. His destination was the previous location of the guild, which he knew by heart. Could they still be there, hidden under magical enchantments? Would he find a clue as to where they did end up going?

He skidded to a stop at the front of the building, and almost immediately his heart fell.

The guild building was long in a state of disrepair. It was clearly abandoned – the area outside was all broken and nothing more than splinters, the windows were boarded up, the previously bright colors were dull and peeling from the wood. The Fairy Tail insignia hung at the top of the building at a slant, almost ready to fall to the ground.

The Fairy Tail guild was now nothing more than a giant scar on the city of Magnolia. Natsu approached it in a daze as many of the townspeople behind him, halting for a moment in their shopping, looked on at him with pity or sympathy.

"Natsu!" shouted a voice from behind him. The fire mage turned to the voice to see a short, pretty girl with jet black hair and wide, dark eyes running toward him. She was wearing a familiar dress, but he couldn't pin where he saw it before. He stared at her glumly.

"I don't want to talk to anyone right now," he said. "Leave me alone."

"But…" she said quietly. "Fairy Tail isn't gone."

"Then why does our guild look like this?" he asked, anger seeping its way into his voice.

"They don't live there anymore, but the townspeople don't want to take it down. It's been a part of Magnolia for so long," said the girl. Natsu was silent for a moment, his fists clenched, his eyes fixed on his feet.

"So… Who are you, again?" he asked. The girl gasped, startling him.

"Oh, I almost forgot," she said, giggling to herself. "Come with me!"

"You're such a weird girl!" he shouted as he followed after her. She led him to the outskirts of the east end of town, right at the entrance to the forest. She ran among the trees. "Where are you bringing me?" As soon as he asked this question, she stopped, turned around, and gave him a gentle smile. "Who are you…?"

Smoke started to cover her features as magic seemed to carry her face away. Natsu stared at her, one brow raised in confusion. Once the dust cleared, a familiar face was revealed to him.

"Mirajane!" he cried out, smiling widely. She looked almost exactly the same, but now her hair fell in gentle waves to her lower back. "I can't believe it's you!"

She enveloped him in a motherly hug. "Natsu… It's so good to see you again."

"Where is everyone? What's been going on ever since I left?" he asked, firing more and more questions at her. "Is everyone safe? Is the guild still around?"

"Calm down, Natsu!" she said, holding up both her hands and laughing. "You haven't changed a bit." He grinned and scratched the back of his head. "We all had to go into hiding because of the war, but we never went far. The guild is right in this forest. Come on, we'll go back together. Everyone misses you."

"But – "

"I'll explain everything to you on the way there," she said, silencing him. "We've been through a lot ever since you left. The Balam Alliance is still in full force and growing even larger, since many of the legal guilds went to join them through fear, force, or blackmail. Without a Magic Council, the magical world doesn't have any leaders, so all of the legal guilds look at the Light Alliance for guidance. But our numbers are dwindling and we've lost so much." At this point, Mirajane's voice became lower and tears threatened to fall.

"I'm sorry," Natsu said grimly. "I wasn't here to protect everyone."

"It's not your fault," she said hurriedly. "It's war. That's what happens."

"Well… Now I'm back, and here to stay," he said. "We'll be able to move back into Magnolia Town!"

"We can't do that," she said. "We'd endanger the townspeople. It's better if no one knows where we are." At that point, she stopped, and Natsu looked ahead.

A gigantic, wooden building was there, hidden among the trees. The trees around it were huge, shielding the whole area from view. Many houses were off to the side, many built high among the canopy of leaves or part of the tree trunks. The whole clearing smelled of magic – protective enchantments and defenses to keep the guild safe. Atop the main building was another round house, built around the trunk of the thickest tree.

"The other, smaller houses are for all our members. They can't exactly rent apartments in town anymore," Mirajane explained. "That house on top of the guild is where the S-Class mages and missions are."

As Natsu looked around, gaping with a goofy smile on his face, Mirajane laughed. "Welcome home, Natsu."

"EVERYONE!" Natsu roared at the top of his lungs, causing Mirajane to flinch. "I'M HOME!" Birds fluttered out of the trees, disturbed by the noise. Heads poked out of tree houses.

"Natsu!" A flying streak of blue barreled right into the fire mage's chest, causing him to take a couple of steps back as he looked at the furry bundle in his arms.

"Happy!" he yelled, clutching the cat tightly and laughing. Mirajane smiled at them, being respectfully silent.

"Natsu? Is it really you?" asked another distant voice. The magical cat in his arms quit his happy sobbing to look at the source of the voice.

"Yes, he's back!" said Happy. Natsu grinned when he saw her.

"Lucy!" he exclaimed. She looked the same as ever to him as she approached, smiling warmly. She now wore her Stellar Spirit keys around her neck – and her collection looked much larger than when he last saw her.

"Come into the guild, you. Say hi to everyone!" said Lucy, spreading her arms.

"Lucy has become a Stellar Spirit mage in her own right," whispered Mirajane to Natsu. "I'd say she's strong enough to be S-Class, but she'd never admit it." Natsu's grin couldn't be wider as he approached her.

"I heard that, Mira-chan!" Lucy quipped. "I'm definitely not as strong as you are." Happy kept flying around Natsu's head, unable to contain his excitement. "Everyone has grown, you know," she said to Natsu as he neared. They came face-to-face, and she had to look up at him more than ever. "In not just magical ability, I guess!"

In the doorway to the guild stood Erza and Gray, looking the same as ever. Gray, as always, was shirtless.

"How's it going, Natsu?" Gray asked with a grin.

"Hey, fight me sometime!" Natsu answered back. Erza surprised the fire mage with a tight hug.

"Oh, I've missed you," said Erza as way of explanation. "I think I'm allowed to hug you after not seeing you for two years."

"Team Natsu is back together!" Happy said joyfully. "Natsu, go inside and say hi to everyone!"

"Will do!" said the Fire Dragon Slayer. He walked inside the building to see the spacious bar and numerous tables that he always associated with the guild foyer. A massive tree trunk was right in the middle of everything, and an arch cut into it revealed a spiral staircase that led up to the higher levels.

"Yo, Natsu!" said Macau, drinking with Kana.

"Lluvia is happy to see Natsu again!" said the water mage, sitting at a table with Gazille, who grunted in greeting. Natsu flashed a grin at them and looked around for more familiar faces, but his expression fell.

"Where is everyone?" he asked. The joyous atmosphere immediately saddened. Other guild members stopped what they were doing and looked up at him.

"Natsu… We lost a lot," said Mirajane.

"Not everyone has been able to survive the war," Gray added. "We're all that's left of Fairy Tail."

"Natsu…" Lucy said weakly, when she saw him trembling with emotion.

"I'll kill them!" he suddenly yelled. "I'll beat the whole Balam Alliance for doing this to my _nakama_!" He punched the palm of his hand, fire covering his fists as he became angrier and angrier.

"Wait, stop!" shouted Lucy, hugging him tightly. "You won't be able to. They're too strong. Don't you die on me too, Natsu!" He became calm, but she wouldn't let go. "They're what we've been fighting for this whole time. We didn't let anyone die in vain."

"Where's the old man? He wouldn't have taken this sitting down…" Natsu grumbled.

"He didn't," said Erza, her voice somber. "He fought back."

Mirajane covered her face with her hands, her shoulders shuddering. Elfman came to her side, putting a supportive arm around his sister.

"It was such a titanic battle," said Reedus.

"He was fighting until the end," Visca said sadly. Arzak stood next to her, averting his eyes from Natsu.

"What do you mean…?" Natsu asked, fear edging its way into his voice.

"Master Makarov was defeated," said the deep voice of Nav. Everyone was silent as they watched for Natsu's reaction or struggled to hold back tears.

"Who did it?" he asked coldly, his face dark. A tear rolled down his face.

"I can't tell you," said Erza, her face blank. "You'll run stupidly into a battle you can't win." Natsu lunged forward and grabbed Erza by the shoulders, a crazed look in his eyes that only she could see.

"Who did it?" he demanded to know. She shook him away, refusing to meet his gaze again.

"Does it matter?" Gazille asked him roughly, standing up from his seat. He marched over to Natsu. "You wouldn't be able to do a thing about it, punk."

"I've gotten stronger," Natsu said to Gazille. "I can beat them."

"We've all gotten stronger, but we're taking this war strategically. Wait for your opportunity and then you might get a chance to fight," said the Metal Dragon Slayer.

"I've taken down whole Dark Guilds singlehandedly," Natsu argued. Tono and Levi both gasped.

"Wow… You really did get stronger!" said Levi.

"But they use magic of the kind we've never seen before," Miki Chickentiger argued. "Believe me, I'd go after 'em myself, too, but even _I'd_ be outmatched!" The bird on her head, Pii-chan, chirped in agreement.

"Fine," said Natsu, turning away from them aggressively. "We'll just sit around and do nothing!"

"We're not doing nothing," Lucky argued, pushing her glasses up her nose. "We've been fighting back. That's why we lost so many people! Magic Guild fighting requires careful planning!"

"How many people do we have left?" Natsu finally asked.

"Well, our numbers weren't totally reduced," said Lucy carefully.

"Team Shadow Gear is still around," said Gazille. Levi flashed Natsu a thumbs-up.

"So is Raijinshuu," said Lluvia.

"Pii-chan and I are the only ones left of the Megadeath team," said Miki with an angry frown.

"You remember Max and Warren, right?" Lucky asked. "They're away on a mission right now."

"As is Mistgun," said Erza. "And as far as I know, Gildartz is still alive."

"So is Visitor, the dancer," added Reedus.

"See?" Lucy asked Natsu. "A lot of our _nakama_ are still here." She smiled at him.

"Not Wakaba," said Macau somberly, staring into his drink. "My buddy didn't make it."

"So what have you been up to all this time, Natsu?" Gray asked him, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"I searched for all the dragons," said the fire mage. "And I found Igneel." Gazille tensed.

"Did he say anything about Metallicana?" the Metal Dragon Slayer asked. Natsu stared at Gazille.

"I'll tell you more about it later," he said evasively.

* * *

It was well into the evening when he finally finished catching up with everybody. The fire mage, tired from his long day of traveling and the numerous revelations, slumped into one of the chairs at one of the bar tables. Lucy took the seat across from him and Happy stood on the table.

"Don't fall asleep on me now," she said. "I still have stuff I want to talk to you about." He gave her a tired smile.

"Shoot," he said.

"Tell me about Igneel," Lucy said to him.

"Ooh! How'd that go?" asked Happy eagerly.

"He trained me," Natsu answered.

"Where was he all this time? And all the other dragons?" she asked.

"I don't know… It's hard to explain," he said, scrunching his nose. "You wouldn't understand."

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, offended.

"Whoa, nothing!" he said hurriedly, waving arms of mercy at her. "I meant it's something that only another Dragon Slayer would understand!"

She crossed her arms in indignation. "Fine."

They were silent again, causing Natsu to fidget awkwardly.

"You know," she said, smiling endearingly again. "You haven't changed a bit." She leaned forward across the table. "Do you think I changed at all?"

"Well… You seem more mature and composed," he said, scratching his head nervously. She sat back.

"I guess that's a good answer," she said with a wink. "So do you." Happy looked between the two of them, smiling.

"It's so good to see you two together again!" the magical cat exclaimed. Natsu noticed for the first time that, for some reason, Happy's magical wings seemed to always be present. Didn't they drain his magical power?

Maybe Happy got even stronger, too.

"So what's up that spiral staircase in the tree trunk?" Natsu asked. The question had been bothering him all day.

"Oh, only our S-Class mages can go up there. The S-Class missions are only available to them again, but they can bring along a team composed of the rest of us," Lucy informed him. "The S-Class mages formed a council to lead the guild since Master Makarov never chose someone else to lead."

"So we're a leaderless guild right now?" Natsu asked, shocked. "And you still do _missions_?"

"Sort of," she said, shrugging. "And ever since he died, no one else has been able to become a true S-Class mage." She answered his second inquiry at the same time. "And yes, we do still do missions, but not the kind we used to. They usually involve the war or the rest of the Light Alliance most of the time."

"Who's part of the council now?" he asked, taking advantage of the situation and firing as many questions as he could at her. She answered them deftly, not getting overwhelmed in the least.

"The Fairy Council consists of Erza, Mistgun, Gildartz, Gazille, Lluvia-chan, and Mira-chan!" said Happy. "Mirajane became an active mage again. But Lucy and Gray should also be S-Class mages now, because they're strong enough!"

"Oh, stop it, Happy," said Lucy, blushing and waving a hand dismissively at him. "I'm not that strong."

"I'd beg to differ," said Gray, suddenly intruding on their conversation. "You scare me about as much as Erza does now."

"How much stronger did you get?" Natsu asked him, grinning. "I bet I can still beat you!"

"I doubt it!" Gray retorted. "I'd kick your ass!"

Lucy rolled her eyes as they butted heads already, but then she spoke above their arguing. "Don't start now, boys," she said dangerously, emitting a stifling magical aura. The fire and ice mages were arm-in-arm a second later, giving her fake smiles. Happy giggled.

"Wait…" said Natsu. "I've got another question." His expression was serious, so the other three quieted down to listen to him. "What about the Oracion Seis? Have they been defeated yet?"

Lucy lowered her head. "Only one," she said quietly. He thought about previous battles with the Dark Guild, two years ago when they formed the Light Alliance and learned that Wendy was the Sky Dragon Slayer.

"Who?" Natsu asked.

"Angel," Lucy answered, shielding her eyes with her bangs.

"Who defeated her…?" Natsu asked, leaning forward apprehensively. Gray crossed his arms.

"I did." Natsu's eyes widened. Had she really become that strong…? "Erza and I managed to get her alone," Lucy continued. "We fought her together, but I dealt the final blow." Her hair cast a shadow over her eyes as she remembered the battle. "They're stronger than you could ever believe, Natsu. We almost didn't make it."

"Yes… Lucy saved my life," said Erza, approaching them at the table. "Without her, Angel would have defeated me."

"I would have never been able to take her alone," Lucy said. "And you did most of the work."

"Don't be modest," said Erza with a gentle smile. "You are powerful, Lucy."

"Can we change the subject, please?" Lucy asked them. "I don't want to remember that battle."

"Sure. Um…" said Natsu, fishing around for a new topic and looking around the guild. "Oh! Who are those two new guys?" He spotted a young man with messy brown hair who was clad in armor that was a mixture of leather and metal, wielding two sheathed swords at his hip. He was sitting at a table with Elfman, Macau, and Kana, talking animatedly with them. Also at the table was a dark-haired girl with strange tattoos all over her face and arms, holding a straight golden staff with a deep red jewel imbedded at the top, garbed in sleeveless black robes embroidered with a sickly green.

"The boy is Baithin," said Erza. "He's a good guy. He practices sword magic."

"That girl's name is Ayri," Gray informed him. "She's the quiet type, but her poison magic is beyond compare. She's been a huge help to us."

"Yes. The fact that they managed to survive this long shows their skill," Erza added. "You wouldn't believe how strong and united this guild has become in your absence, Natsu."

"That's good." Natsu stretched back and grinned. "Well… Where's my place? I wanna go to bed now."

"Um… I don't think you have one," Lucy said, biting her finger. "But if you want…"

"I know! I'll stay at your place, Lucy!" he said enthusiastically. She banged her head against the table.

"Sure, whatever. I was gonna suggest Gray, but…"

"Okay, night guys!" he said with a wave, standing up.

"Oh, wait!" Lucy started, stopping him in his tracks. "I found the perfect mission for us to do tomorrow, for old times' sake. We can all see just how strong we've become."

"Sure," said Gray, uncrossing his arms. "What are the mission details?"

"Well… It didn't say much, except that we have to meet the client," said Lucy, pulling a piece of paper out of her pocket. "They had a specific person in mind for the mission, though."

Erza was interested. "We never get those kinds of missions. Who are they asking for?"

"Happy," Lucy told her. "And the client is Charle!"

The cat was gaping, and he fell over, love struck.

"We can all go with him. What do you say?"

"I can't," said Erza. "I haven't been able to go on any missions lately. I have to help with guild matters."

"Oh," Lucy said, frowning. "Gray, Natsu?"

"Sure," they both said at once, and then glared at each other again.

"Well… I'm off to bed now," Natsu said to them. "Coming, Happy?" He needed someone to show him to Lucy's house.

But the cat didn't hear him, too absorbed with Lucy and Gray. Natsu frowned, realizing that Happy had found a sort of replacement in his life, moving on after Natsu left the guild. How many missions had Lucy, Gray, and Happy gone on together? He watched from a distance as his friends laughed together, more comfortable with each other than anyone else. Did he belong with them anymore?

Natsu smiled optimistically. Of course he did. He'd just have to reintegrate himself into his circle of friends again.

But that didn't stop the jealousy that wormed its way into his heart.

* * *

**Author's Notes: How was that for a first chapter? There will definitely be more to come. Next week, we'll get to Team Natsu's first mission after their reunion! What does Charle want with Happy?**

**For those of you who are wondering, this will be very actiony and will cover my own version of the plot of Fairy Tail. As far as pairings go, they'll be on the side, because I'm not even sure what Fairy Tail pairings I like yet. I'm impartial to most of them, so it really doesn't matter to me.**

**Oh, as far as the surviving Fairy Tail members go, anyone with a guild card as one of the title pages of the manga are still alive, with the exceptions of Makarov and Wakaba (that guy who uses smoke magic). Also, there are two new additions to the guild in Baithin and Ayri, but you don't have to worry about them taking over the story.**

**This version of Fairy Tail will be a bit darker than the original series, but I hope some of you don't mind. I'm trying to write with a lighter tone, which is a bit harder for me :)**

**Please review! Tell me what you think so far!**


	2. The Aera

_**Tales of the Fairies**_

**Chapter Two – The Aera**

"There's something else that didn't change about Natsu," Lucy mumbled as Natsu continued to hurl into a bucket.

"I guess he'll never get over his one weakness," Happy quipped as he zoomed around the train compartment. Gray was holding his nose disgustedly.

"It smells in here."

"Open!! Key to the Shield, Scutum!" Lucy said nasally, holding out one of her silver keys as she used her other hand to hold her nose. A thick, golden shield with spindly hands and wide eyes popped into existence, hovering in front of Lucy, Gray, and Happy to protect them from the smell of Natsu's bile.

"That's a new Stellar Spirit," Natsu managed to choke out, until he coughed up the remains of that morning's breakfast.

"Ugh, it smells horrendous in here!" said Scutum, the summoned shield.

"He's good at defending," Lucy told him, now able to breathe normally as the magic shield was erected. "…But he does tend to complain a lot."

"I can feel my wonderful golden paint peeling!"

"The smell's gone," Gray commented, "But now we have to deal with that voice."

* * *

A few hours later, the train rolled to a stop at the station they wanted and the four stumbled out and waited for Natsu's dizziness to expire.

"That passenger compartment is going to smell for weeks!" Happy pointed out, hovering above Natsu as he lay down on the ground. The cat mage adjusted his little black wizard hat.

"You've been flying around a lot more than I remember," said Natsu. "You can use your magic a lot more, can't you?"

"Yup! I can have my wings out all the time now!" he said cheerfully.

"He's been a great help in missions," Lucy cooed, cuddling the happy little cat. "He's saved Gray and I more than once."

"So… You two have been doing missions together while I've been gone?" Natsu asked, his voice unusually timid.

"Yes. We formed our own temporary team," Gray admitted.

"But it's been fun!" Lucy exclaimed. "We've become good friends."

"Or perhaps mooore," Happy teased.

"No way!" Gray and Lucy both said at once. Natsu laughed along with Happy.

"Sometimes Erza would come with us, too," said Happy. "But she's been very busy lately."

The group of four continued to walk along the worn, dirt trail, enjoying the peaceful quietness around them. They walked through flat, grassy plains, distant mountains framing the scene.

"Where are we meeting Charle again?" Natsu questioned Lucy.

"According to the request, it should be nearby. We should be coming to the edge of a forest soon," Lucy told him.

"I wonder why she wants to see me?" Happy wondered aloud. "I thought she didn't like me!"

"Maybe she does now!" Lucy teased him back.

"Just don't go at it like rabbits," Gray threw in. Lucy and Natsu laughed at Happy's horrified reaction.

* * *

Tall, ancient trees were the first indication that they were coming upon the meeting place, followed by a giant, worn statue inserted on the path, instantly drawing Team Natsu to it. At the base of the statue, a white cat stood next to her human companion, staring up at the grey stone figure.

The white cat heard them approach and turned to them. "Greetings," she said formally. "It is good to see you again."

Happy nervously approached his female comrade, handing her a fish as a gift. He smiled meekly, but she ignored it and spoke to him. "I suppose it's good to see you, too."

"Hello, Charle," Lucy greeted with a wave. She noticed the cat's human companion and called out her name. "Wendy!"

The young girl turned and waved to the Fairy Tail mages, offering them a bright smile. "Hello!"

"Good to see you again, Wendy," said Natsu, kneeling down to her height. "Whoa, you got bigger!"

"I guess so," she said, clasping her hands behind her back.

"How've you been?" he asked his fellow Dragon Slayer. "Working on your wind magic?"

Wendy tilted her head. "A little."

"Nonsense," Charle interrupted. "You have become a very powerful mage, Wendy. Let him know it!" The little girl nodded hurriedly.

Wendy was very helpful in their battles against the Oracion Seis in the past, offering defensive and healing support in most of their fights. Despite her attitude, she was a worthy delegate from the Cait Shelter guild.

"Why did you want to see Happy?" Gray questioned Charle. "I thought you didn't like him."

"I don't," Charle clarified, looking down her tiny cat nose at him. "But I thought I'd let him know what I've discovered."

"What is it?" Happy asked, not at all insulted.

"It began with this statue," she explained, gesturing to the statue behind her. "Take a good look at it." Lucy and the others examined it closely for the first time, and the Stellar Spirit Mage was the first one to gasp in surprise.

"It's a cat with wings!" she exclaimed.

"Yes," Charle clarified. "I discovered it recently and began to look into the matter. Happy, apparently there is a whole race of us out there. We are descended from ancient, winged cat beings that still live today in seclusion. We may have finally found our origin."

"Wow…" Happy gasped.

"Do you know where they are?" Natsu questioned her.

"I believe I have pinpointed their location," she said with a nod.

"Where are they?" Gray asked.

"In this very forest, hidden under many illusions and enchantments," she said. "Are you ready to find them?"

"Yes!" said Happy excitedly.

"Then let's go," said Charle, showing them the first hint of a smile. "But be warned – this is a very magical, ancient forest. I do not know what will await us inside." She drew a sword at her hip, surprising them all. And then the cats led the way inside. Shrugging to each other, the four humans followed after them.

There was no path to speak of, but every single one of the mages felt the magical residue left behind since the beginning of time. They remained respectfully silent, only speaking in whispers, sensing all kinds of beings watching over them as they passed through the sacred trees. They felt as if they were intruding on a holy land.

"This place gives me the creeps," Lucy whispered.

"I… Kind of like it," Wendy admitted. "Everything feels so… preserved."

"So you don't know where you came from either, Charle?" Natsu asked the cat mage.

"Ask Wendy. She was the one who found me," she answered.

Wendy spoke up. "I found her egg in a forest a lot like this one," she said. "It was a few years ago, when I was still a little kid."

"Come to think of it," said Natsu, screwing up his face in concentration, "I found Happy's egg in a place like this, too."

"And then your fire kept me warm so I could hatch!" Happy shouted loudly. Everyone shushed him immediately.

"We may finally find our true origins today," said Charle. "Do you sense anything, Happy?"

"Yes, now that you mention it," said the blue cat. "I feel like there's something calling me."

"I don't sense anything besides the forest," said Gray.

"Same here," Lucy contributed.

"We're close," Charle stated. "I sense an illusion magic at work here. Is anyone proficient at banishing them?"

"I can," said Lucy. Natsu stared at her, wide-eyed.

"You learned some magic besides Stellar Spirit stuff?" he asked, astounded.

"Well, yes, but I have a Stellar Spirit who can dispel illusions," she said. She clipped a silver key off of her necklace. "Open!! A door to the Swan, Cygnus!" she called. A graceful spirit appeared, taking the form of a pure white swan. "Cygnus, there's an illusion here. Can you get rid of it for us?"

"Why else would you have called me?" the swan muttered in a nasally male voice, so at odds with what Natsu was expecting that he even jumped back. With the disposition of one that was annoyed, the swan honked loudly and the forest around them warped, revealing a dark cave to the six mages. "Farewell, human." It closed its own gate and Lucy huffed at it.

"All my spirits are so ungrateful and stingy," she mumbled.

"What a creepy cave," Happy mused, hiding behind Gray's head.

"Natsu, lead the way with your fire magic," Charle commanded. He complied, lighting a fire in his palm as he was the first to walk into the darkness. The tunnel ran deep into the ground and everyone huddled around Natsu, the only light source.

"How long does this tunnel go on?" Gray asked nobody in particular.

"Nekousoku Tube!" someone shouted from the darkness, and Natsu suddenly found himself bound tightly in rope, causing his fire to go out. He tried lighting a fire to burn the rope away, but he found that he couldn't cast any magic!

"Who's there?" Lucy called. "Natsu, where are you?"

"Huh? Natsu?" asked an unfamiliar voice. "That fire mage, a friend of Erza?"

"Who are you?" Gray asked fiercely.

"Hm… That voice sounds familiar, too!" said the female voice. "Turn the lights back on!" A soft green light turned on, the source of which were magical plants lining the ceiling and walls of the cave. The plants were bulbous, and the light was being cast off of these bulbs.

Revealed to them was a person they didn't expect.

"Miriana! Is that you?" asked Lucy. Standing in front of them, her blonde hair slightly curled up in a bob cut and cat ears sticking out of her head, was indeed the cat-lover, one of Erza's old friends and Gérard's slave on the Tower of Paradise.

"Wow, it is you guys!" Miriana exclaimed.

"Wow… I didn't expect this," Gray said, scratching the back of his head.

"Who is this?" Charle questioned them. Wendy giggled at the strange girl's fake cat ears.

"She's a cat-lover," Lucy explained to Charle simply. "An old friend of ours."

"Can you please untie me?" Natsu asked insistently.

"Oh… Heheh, sure!" Miriana said cheerfully, withdrawing her anti-magic rope. All around them, small blue and white heads started popping up from behind rocks, pointed ears instantly identifying them as not human. "Hi, Happy!"

"Whoa… Charle, do you see them?" the cat mage in question asked his female companion.

"I do," she answered in awe.

"Oh, yeah," said Miriana, scratching her head. "Welcome to the lost city of the Aera!" Cat eyes were wide and curious as they peered at the party.

"What's going on, Miri-chan?" a voice asked from further down the tunnel. A shirtless, cat-like man stepped into view, his baggy pants dragging along the floor.

"Toby?!" Gray yelled in astonishment.

"Whoa! Paralyzing Nails: Mega Jelly!" the cat-man identified as Toby yelled, claws extending from his fingers.

"Hey… You've got something on your face," Natsu pointed out to the mage.

"Huh?" Toby asked, touching his face with his claw. He instantly fell to the floor as the poison entered his body. "Uwah! I fell for it again!"

"Hey, don't trick my boyfriend!" Miriana yelled at Natsu as she rushed to Toby's side.

Natsu slumped forward in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me…"

"What're you doing with these guys, Miriana?" Toby asked her.

"They're friends of mine!"

The Aera all around them were speaking curiously to each other, wondering about these intruders as well as the two Aera they brought with them. As they stepped out from their hiding places, Natsu and the others were able to see some variety in them – some were blue, some were white, and some wore clothes, while others preferred to be like Happy.

Happy looked embarrassingly to his only articles of clothing, his black, pointed, wide-brimmed hat and his scarf. He was nervous as he looked at the rest of his people, stepping closer to Charle.

"Greetings," the female Cait Shelter member said to them all. "I am called Charle."

"I—I'm Happy!"

Wendy knelt down to their heights. "They're adorable!" she cooed.

"Aren't they?" Miriana said cheerfully, picking one up and squeezing the smiling cat.

"What are you doing here with all these cats?" Natsu asked the cat-lover.

Lucy rolled her eyes. "That was a stupid question."

"I found this civilization and came to live with them," she explained. "I met up with Toby not long before. He's a cat-lover, like me!"

"So girly," Gray taunted. Toby, still immobilized by his own magic, growled at the ice mage.

"But you haven't seen their town yet," Miriana said to them. "C'mon, follow me!"

With two insane cat-lovers in the lead, followed by at least twenty bipedal cat mages and a group of bewildered humans, Lucy had to honestly say that this was the strangest entourage she had ever seen.

* * *

"Hey! Where'd Happy go?" Natsu dove into the sea of cats, searching for his best friend with his usual amount of intensity. He grasped one cat with two hands, yelling at it. "You all look alike!"

The town of the Aera was located in a huge underground cavern, lit by the same bulbous plants from the tunnels. Their houses were numerous, small, and made of stone, providing adequate living conditions for an immense number of cats. Each one of the Aera had the ability to fly, and they were using it constantly.

In the center of everything, there was a vastly magical artifact. Each cat passed it during their daily lives of fun, stress-less living reduced to the simplest of forms. The magical artifact was a vibrantly green crystal exuding an aura of power and life, fueling the town and all of its resources. Lucy's own magical power felt incredibly small and insignificant as she stood next to the crystal.

Strangely, Lucy surmised that the crystal seemed to be an exact opposite of Aetherion. While Aetherion crystals had the power to absorb like a parasite, this crystal released and strengthened a constant, infinite amount of magical power. If anyone knew about this wonder, the Stellar Spirit Mage imagined that many hands would be after it in a heartbeat.

In her further explorations of the town, Lucy discovered an ancient tablet reciting an old Aera legend. It spoke of an Aera who would save the world and his people, born of dragon-fire and wielder of powerful magics. Could something like this exist? How deep and ancient was the Aerian lore? She felt magic even in the stone that made up this city.

It made her think about Happy. After learning of his true origins, would the Fairy Tail mage ever want to return, or was this his true home? Lucy even felt herself wishing to stay here longer. Now that they had found the Aera, their mission was complete. But the magic here made her feel so safe and secure. She wished to share it with more people, but she promised never to disrupt this sanctuary of cats. No one else could know of this place.

Lucy was distracted from her musing by a fleeting shadow, a dark type of magic that she caught at the edge of her senses. It had horrible intentions in mind – that much she could tell. But the sense was so fleeting that she could barely register it. It made her even think that she imagined the whole thing. But the shadow seemed as if it knew it was discovered, exposed by the light of the crystal, banished to wherever it came from. Did it desire the crystal's power, or did the shadow fear it?

"You felt it, didn't you?" asked a voice from behind her. Startled slightly, Lucy regained her composure in time to answer.

"Yes," she said to Miriana. "You know what it is?"

"I have a few guesses," the cat-lover admitted with a shrug. "But be on your guard. It isn't entirely harmless. It was led here by the crystal's allure." To Lucy, Miriana seemed strangely composed and solemn. "Weird things have been happening to some of the Aera, and the crystal's power has been dimming. It used to be so much grander."

"Is it… a spirit?" Lucy asked tentatively. Erza's old friend was about to answer, but the sound of a thunderous explosion was let off. "What was that?!" Lucy shouted aloud, shielding herself instinctually from dust and debris as it rained down on her.

"Magic!" the girl answered, rushing to the source of the crystal. Ghostly images surrounded it, dark and somewhat transparent, feeding off of the crystal's power. From many feet away, Miriana thrust her hand forward. "Nekousoku Tube!" she called. The anti-magic tube went right through the specters and wrapped around the crystal, which Miriana's spell had no effect on. Instead, the crystal reacted defensively to the anti-magic attack, expelling a pulse of pure magic that blasted the cat girl off her feet, as well as banishing all of the specters.

"Miriana!" Lucy called. "Are you okay?" Slightly bruised and burnt, the girl was able to stand, wincing as she did so.

"Forget about me! More ghosts are coming!" And this time, they didn't all concentrate on the crystal. A platoon of spectral images rushed at the two girls, causing Miriana to hide behind Lucy since her magic didn't work against them.

"Barrier!" Lucy cried, holding her hands forward as the ghosts rammed into her magical wall, shielding the two from attack.

"Whoa! You know defensive magic?" asked the voice of Natsu, suddenly arriving and dispatching the ghosts in a flurry of flame.

"Of course!" Lucy replied quickly. "A Stellar Spirit Mage has to be able to protect herself, since most smart mages will target her instead of her summons. That's not all I can do!" And then Lucy vanished into midair.

"Whoa!" Natsu shouted, unable to hide his shock.

"Open!! Key to the Lion, Leo!" Lucy commanded, as Loki came to assist her. "Loki, only magical attacks work against these things! I need your help!"

"And I'm perfectly willing to offer it, my sweet," he replied charismatically, preparing his ring magic. "Though, there are quite a lot of enemies here."

"I'm right on that," Lucy affirmed with a nod, drawing a two-pronged golden key. "Open!! Key to the Twins, Gemini!" On her command, two Stellar Spirits appeared at once.

The first one, Gem, was the more eccentric of the two, which was the only way she could tell them apart. Gem wore a red, tight-fitting jumpsuit but excelled in magical attacks, something that she would need for this battle.

The other one, Iye, was much more serious and composed, and often was a source of intellectual conversation for Lucy. He was garbed in a blue jumpsuit. Though they were twins, they were as different as night and day. Since his expertise was in brute force, Iye would only be able to protect her from physical harm in this battle, or be ready to fight if more enemies showed up.

Though they were two separate entities, the twins operated as one single Zodiac Spirit.

Lucy's skill was so great now that she could summon two Zodiac Spirits without any extra drain on her magical energy. And since she was in such close proximity to the crystal, she felt that she could easily summon more than Loki and the Twins if the need arose…

Loki continued to blast the ghosts with rays from his numerous rings, all of which had a variety of effects. He primarily used his magical ones in this battle, which sent rays of pure energy at the ghosts, utterly obliterating them. Gem and Iye, on the other hand, were a very powerful team. Gem danced around the town and slung many magical explosions at the spectral images, cackling insanely all the while, as Iye used his above-average speed to protect the panicked Aera from indirect damage, such as Gem's explosions, executing his task in a cool and professional manner.

"Lucy!" called Happy's recognizable voice. "What's going on?" Somehow, during the fight and being preoccupied with instructing her Stellar Spirits, Lucy had lost Natsu, though Miriana was glued to her side. She was petrified with fear.

"I don't know! This evil magic started attacking us out of nowhere!" Lucy answered. She spotted Charle nearby, her wings fully extended as she flipped through the forces of darkness, swinging her sword with a cold brutality which did nothing to pierce the ghosts' ethereal bodies.

"Nothing is working!" Charle growled frustratingly. Lucy wished that the cat fighter could help more – she would be able to wreak utter devastation with her sword skills if she were fighting more solid enemies.

Lucy, with her Stellar Spirits, managed to wipe out a sizeable number of the specters which released horrible wails as they dissipated into the air. They seemed to be unable to do much more than converge on a target and suck their magical power dry, though Lucy didn't let that happen to anyone around her.

"They're going after the crystal again!" Miriana managed to cry, unable to do much else. Lucy couldn't help but wonder what was with her – she wasn't the only helpless one here. Why was she so scared?

Lucy, Miriana, Happy, and Charle raced towards the crystal again, followed by Lucy's Stellar Spirits. Most of the dark ghosts were converged on the crystal, trying to harness the magical power for themselves. Where did all of them come from? Were they being controlled by a more powerful mage, hidden somewhere else?

Before she even needed to attack them, Gray was already there unloading a barrage of ice upon the ghosts, which seemed to be surprisingly effective. He froze the ground beneath his feet and was given instant mobility, able to slide all around the battlefield with complete ease. Wendy was not far behind him, bending the air to her will, manipulating it just so that she could get from one place to another without any interference, almost floating in midair. Wendy's powers had made the young girl extraordinarily graceful as she moved.

"Wendy!" Charle called with relief.

"Charle!" Wendy cried. "I'm so glad you're okay! Gray has been protecting me." The ice mage smirked upon hearing this, shouting one of his Ice Make incantations as he surfed on the slippery ground.

"Ice Make: Dragon!" Gray roared, showing off his newly learned Dynamic Ice Makes. Lucy shook her head in exasperation as Natsu heard and was suddenly there again, glaring at his rival. Having spent so much time with him in the past two years, Lucy knew that Gray picked up his Dynamic Makes from training with Leon.

Not about to be outdone, Natsu howled, "Fire Dragon Flame Rush!" As the icy dragon materialized and breathed frozen air on its opponents, Natsu's fire streamed from his fists in impossibly fast bursts, obliterating many of the ghosts on contact. The crystal was no doubt adding to their magical mayhem.

"Wind Barrier!" Wendy suddenly cried, causing the air around Lucy to spin. The rotating wind threw off one of the ghost's attacks, and Wendy's quick protective spell got to Lucy just in time. Smiling sheepishly in thanks, Lucy reprimanded her moment of carelessness and distraction. "Be more careful!" the small girl advised her.

"Got it!" Lucy said back to her. The moment she turned back to the battle, her Stellar Spirits, mixed with the havoc inflicted by Natsu and Gray, had thoroughly defeated all of the ghosts. The battlefield was suddenly quiet, filled with dust and dirt kicked up from the attacks. "Wasn't that a bit overkill?" Lucy asked the two mages, dismissing her Stellar Spirits with quick goodbyes and thanks.

"But that's what they do, Lucy!" Happy said to her cheerfully. Many unharmed Aera heads popped up to look at the mages in curiosity and joy upon being saved. The magic crystal continued to pulsate with power.

"Good work," Charle commented briefly. "But where did those spirits come from? And what did they want?"

"They wanted the crystal's power," said Toby, dragging his feet over to them as he rubbed his head with de-clawed hands. "They were all over that thing."

"That magic was evil," said Gray. Suddenly, Miriana called all attention to herself, still quivering with fear. She fell to her knees, her eyes wide.

"D-don't you guys recognize the magic? You all f-fought it before!"

"What do you mean?" Natsu questioned her. Nobody else spoke as she let out her next words.

"That was Gérard's magic!"

* * *

**Author's Notes: Heh, that's a cruel note to leave this on, isn't it? I'm trying to keep the manga's latest developments in mind, and changing the story as I see fit. I want to stay as accurate as possible, so some new things from the manga may be added in over time.**

**Hope everyone enjoys the story so far. Please review!**


	3. Holy

_**Tales of the Fairies**_

**Chapter Three – Holy**

"_They wanted the crystal's power," said Toby, dragging his feet over to them as he rubbed his head with de-clawed hands. "They were all over that thing."_

"_That magic was evil," said Gray. Suddenly, Miriana called all attention to herself, still quivering with fear. She fell to her knees, her eyes wide._

"_D-don't you guys recognize the magic? You all f-fought it before!"_

"_What do you mean?" Natsu questioned her. Nobody else spoke as she let out her next words._

"_That was Gérard's magic!"_

* * *

They all reacted with varying degrees of surprise, but everyone was stunned into silence except Natsu, who just tapped a finger against his chin. "But isn't he dead?"

"Only you can answer that," Miriana hiccupped. "You were the one to defeat him, weren't you?"

"Sorta," Natsu admitted. "He gave his body to the Aetherion. I'm not even sure what happened, really…"

"He was put into a state of near death." All heads turned to face the diminutive form of Wendy, her bangs covering her eyes in a veil of shadow. She was very still. For a second, Lucy wasn't even sure if it was Wendy who spoke, until she opened her mouth again. "The Oracion Seis found him after that battle. They preserved his body until they met me. Then they made me revive him."

Charle lowered her head, apparently having heard this story, while Happy let out a small squeak of surprise. Lucy gaped. "You can do that?" she asked in shock.

"She is an expert at healing," Charle informed her. "Though she cannot fully revive the dead."

"I kind of… put him from a state of near death to one of near-life," Wendy explained timidly.

"What is that supposed to be?" Lucy questioned again.

"You will soon see for yourself," Charle told Lucy. "For now, we assess the damage and find out what we are going to do."

"Our mission is technically complete," Gray announced. "We are supposed to be returning to our HQ now. May we have our reward?" he asked Charle. The cat, in response, glared at him.

"What kind of response is that?!" Natsu yelled at Gray. "They need help! We should stay here!"

"I guess Erza is rubbing off on him," Lucy noted with a grin. Gray crossed his arms.

"We just don't have time for this sort of thing. Our best bet would be to tell the Guild Council…"

"Erza, you mean," Happy interrupted him.

"…Yes, Erza, because of her connection to Jeral, so they can think of something to do," Gray finished.

"Um… About what Gérard is trying to do... He was absorbing the magic and life of the crystal," Miriana meekly pointed out.

"Who is this Gérard guy, anyway?" Toby asked stupidly. Everyone ignored him.

"Could he be trying to restore his powers?" Lucy wondered aloud.

"Perhaps," said Charle.

"Then you must stay to help!" In a rare moment of outburst, Wendy grabbed Natsu by the arms and looked imploringly up at him. "If he attacks the crystal again, he may become stronger… And we'd have no chance of stopping him."

"Then it's decided!" declared Natsu, pounding a fist into his palm. "We'll stay here and kick Gérard's butt!" Lucy smiled. His optimism was refreshing.

"See?" she said to Gray. "Come on, it's something we all have to do. What the Fairy Council doesn't know won't hurt them."

"Erza would kill us if she knew that Gérard was here, and we stopped him again," Gray said to her, his eyes fixed on the ground.

"I think she'd be better off not knowing," Lucy said softly. "It was painful enough for her to accept the fact that he died the first time. It would be kinder to let her think he's still dead. That's why we should deal with him now. For Erza."

"C'mon!" said Natsu to Gray. "I bet you're just afraid of fighting him!"

"What are you talking about? I bet I could beat him in one spell!" Gray argued, immediately incensing him into action. Lucy laughed silently, knowing Gray was won over.

"Well… It's just about nighttime," Miriana announced to them, as Gray and Natsu continued arguing. "You'll all need places to stay, won't you?"

"Yes, please," Wendy said politely. As Miriana led the girls away for a place to sleep, Lucy left her two boys exactly how they were, perfectly content to let them keep fighting. It was only when she was in a bad mood that she had the desire to scare them both into submission, anyway…

Things really hadn't changed at all.

* * *

The stone house given to them was small by human standards (how did cats make buildings, anyway?) but it proved adequate. Lucy yawned as she awoke and stretched, feeling thoroughly rested. She fell right back into her bed, perfectly content with sleeping through the day, forgetting of their mission…

"Morning, Lucy!" Natsu boomed, kicking open the flap that served as their door. The summoner shrieked, and even Wendy, who was sleeping peacefully, was startled awake. Both girls glared at the fire mage.

"Natsu…" Lucy warned. He immediately shrunk back, looking at her in fright, before giving a feeble apology and exiting. She sighed. There was no way she was going to be able to laze around now. There was work to be done, after all.

After getting ready, Lucy left the house and wondered if her teammates had gotten up to anything destructive yet this morning. Seeing nothing amiss, the Stellar Spirit mage strode to the center of town, waving to all of the cute Aera she spotted. Happily, they waved back, giving her all kinds of greetings.

The immense cavern, constantly lit with the soft, pale light, was also surprisingly warm. It was kept heated by the inner workings of the planet (or maybe the crystal?), Lucy knew, but it was unknown to her exactly how this place managed to stay here for so long. In order to keep this place safe, they had to defeat Gérard.

Happy and Charle were overjoyed to be with their people. Lucy didn't want that happiness to be ruined.

As she approached the pulsating magic crystal, the girl scratched her head, wondering where to start. She wanted to study it, holding an immense curiosity for the glowing green gem that somewhat resembled Aetherion. What fueled its magic? How did it give off such strong mana? Was this the only one? Why did it react so strongly to anti-magic? Why did it strengthen her just being near it?

Without realizing she was doing so, Lucy approached the crystal, close enough to reach out her hand and touch it. _Something_ wanted her to do just that, and her hand twitched, started to rise…

"Lucy! Whatcha up to?" asked Miriana cheerfully. "Did you sleep well?"

Lucy suddenly halted, noticing for the first time that her hand was inches away from the hard, glowing, bright surface. It occurred to her that she had to shield her eyes from being this close.

"Yes, yes, I did," she answered, barely giving a glance at the cat-lover. "Hey, Miriana?"

"Yeah?" she asked.

"Yesterday, when you tried using your anti-magic on the ghouls, what happened when your rope wrapped around the crystal?"

Miriana shivered. "It sent off a magic pulse that hurt me a little. I think it was defending itself."

"If it's okay, would you be willing to do it again?" Lucy asked her carefully. "I'll use my barrier to protect you now."

"Okay, if it'll help," she said with a smile.

"Alright, stand behind me," said Lucy. "And use your magic when you're ready!"

Miriana moved to comply. "Got it! Ready?" At Lucy's nod, Miriana shouted, "Nekousoku Tube!"

"Barrier!"

As the rope was hurled at the crystal, the magic source burst to life and burned it to dust and a pulse shot off toward the two girls. The immense strength was enough to push Lucy and her barrier back, almost into Miriana. Lucy cried out, not expecting this much strength to assail her defense, so fragile in comparison. With her utmost willpower, she tried forcing the wall of magic back. The crystal's defense mechanism seemed determined to fight back against ones attempting to do it harm.

"Lucy!" yelled the voice of Natsu, as he suddenly appeared and lobbed a fireball at it.

"No!" Lucy cried, but it was too late. The fire clashed with the crystal and the effect was immediate. It continued to glow brighter, fighting off Natsu's attack, but only Lucy was holding back the crystal's rage. Finally, the shape of the shockwave distorted, and the magical power shot upward, blasting much of the rocky ceiling to pieces.

Lucy forced her shield up for even longer as debris fell on top of the two. Each boulder that slammed into her shield from above made Lucy cringe in pain. If anything happened to anyone, it would be her fault…!

And, finally, the rockfall stopped.

Lucy fell to her knees as her green barrier shattered around her, totally tired out from having to maintain it. Barrier magic wasn't her specialty… She should have summoned. As soon as she gathered enough energy to stand, she looked at the devastation that she had caused. Miriana was still behind her, perfectly unharmed, but shaken. She was in awe of something above her.

None of the rocks had done any significant damage.

They were all stopped in place, in varying degrees of elevation, by enormous amounts of ice which shielded most of the center of the town. Immediately, Lucy flooded with gratitude for Gray and his quick action. He stood close to the magic crystal, arms outstretched on either side of him. Off to the side, she could see Natsu, also unharmed but grumpy looking, with glowing red rocks that had cracked open on both of his sides.

"Gray…" Lucy exhaled a sigh of relief, smiling at her friend. "Thank you."

Natsu grunted. "I helped, too!"

"Your fireball only enraged it further," commented Gray. "Are you okay, Lucy?"

"Yes… I'm fine," she answered.

Wendy, Happy, and Charle were running in their direction, the former two with panic on their faces and the latter was tense. "What happened here?" cried the Sky Dragon Slayer. "Gérard is coming! I can sense him!"

"What?!" Miriana screamed.

"That intense magical power only called to him. He is headed our way again. Be ready!" Charle said sternly, holding her sword in front of her. Happy quivered with fear. The others prepared to fight.

Lucy readied her Loki and Gem and Iye keys in case the shades were to return with Gérard. Expecting an attack from further in the cavern, no one was ready for the blast from above, shattering the rest of the ceiling. Before she could even summon him, Scutum opened his own gate to protect her from the hail of rocks that followed the explosion. Loki was right by his side, incinerating boulders right out of the air with his rings, keeping them from falling on everyone present.

And then she saw him.

Gérard _flew_ inside of the cavern from above, which was now open to the sky. His Meteor magic propelled him, covering him in a magical aura as he soared straight for the crystal. Just able to distinguish his face, Lucy noted an animalistic hunger in his eyes, his mouth hanging open, totally disregarding everyone else around him.

That was, until Natsu interrupted his direct flight path with a solid, fiery punch right to the jaw.

Gérard's figure – or what used to be Gérard – plummeted into rock debris from the blast, sending up more rocks in his landing. His body was covered, but the boulders were sent soaring from him with a magical blast, sending them everywhere.

"Ice Make: Shield!" Gray roared, as a boulder slammed into his hastily-made shield. Lucy shielded her own body, since none were immediately coming to her, making herself as small of a target as possible. Gérard was up quickly, hunched over, the top part of his tight uniform destroyed from an earlier battle, baring his chest and breathing heavily. There was nothing human left in him or his eyes. Immediately, Lucy came to pity him.

"Thanks, Scutum," she said to her whimpering, slightly dented shield. She dismissed him from the battle.

"So this is what became of the Great Holy Mage, Sieglein," Loki mused.

"What is driving him forward?" Gray questioned in the short pause. Gérard's body halted for long enough to give them a predatory stare.

"Does Zeref… Still possess him?" Miriana asked fearfully.

"No. Zeref never possessed him," Wendy revealed quietly. "It was all Urtear. I found this out after I revived him." Lucy didn't expect this piece of information. Urtear was a powerful Sorceress, one of the strongest members of the Grimoire Heart guild, their enemy.

"So what does he want now?" Lucy asked, her brow furrowed. "Zeref can't be driving him forward."

"He wants life," Wendy answered simply. Lucy understood. Gérard seemed alive, but he was nothing more than a mindless body now. She held her whip ready.

Gérard sped forward, intent on nothing except the crystal. Natsu met him head-on, blasting the man with a spinning inferno, but Gérard's Meteor magic enabled him to dodge it effortlessly, putting him closer to Gray. The ice mage charged forward.

"Ice Make: Cannon!" An old-style, icy cannon appeared in front of Gray, which immediately started launching ice boulders at Jeral. Noticing him for the first time, Gérard used his first magical attack.

"Heavenly Magic: Seven Star Sword!" he bellowed, his voice bestial. Rays of light from the exposed sky descended and converged on Gray and his ice with the full power of a meteor.

"Gray!" Happy yelled.

Once the light faded, Lucy was horrified to see Gray fall to the ground, bloodied and beaten from stab wounds too fast to see and almost impossible to block.

"Someone distract him!" shouted Wendy. "I can heal Gray!"

Nodding grimly, Lucy responded. "Got it." Natsu was on Gérard long before her, furiously pummeling the creature with fists of flame, refusing to give him any chance to strike back.

"Fire Dragon's Roar!" shouted Natsu, finishing off his combo with an enormous amount of fire expelled from his mouth. Natsu's power was much greater than Lucy had previously seen. Amazingly, Gérard's own bloodied and beaten form continued to rise, and the anger was clear on his face.

"Neuron Flare," he rasped quietly. A magical pulse, not unlike the one from the crystal, erupted from Gérard's own body, but it seemed far stronger than the crystal could produce, ripping up rock from the ground and destroying it immediately. The attack was much more precise and thin than the crystal's, but the devastation seemed greater.

"Fire Dragon's Wall!" Natsu beckoned, and a wall of rippling red flame appeared in front of him as a form of defense, but Gérard's attack easily ripped through, hurling Natsu into one of the stone houses and destroying it completely, sending him skidding across the ground for a ways afterward. Lucy watched him go, but she was unable to move, trying to cover Wendy as she healed Gray. He had suffered so much damage…

Gérard's two pulses continued to orbit him, thin lines that would lash out at anything that neared. He stood in place, either regarding Lucy or staring at the crystal.

"White Wind!" Wendy said with determination and the wind rose to her call. It glowed a soft white and caressed Gray's nearly motionless body in an attempt to restore him. "Lucy, I need some more time!"

The summoner nodded. "Loki, go! I'll back you up!" she called to her waiting friend.

"I trust you, Lucy," he said with a small smile, fixing his ring.

"Open!! Door to the Ram, Aries!" She pointed her Zodiac Key at Gérard as Aries appeared, shy and timid as ever. Sheep's wool decorated her body and ram's horns adorned her head. "Hey, I'm going to need your help."

"Yes, Lucy-sama," she said obediently. Loki started by firing his ring's power at Gérard like a laser, but the attack was blocked by the rippling, electrified charges of the Neuron Flare.

She saw Loki express surprise. "What's wrong?" she asked urgently.

"My ring is being pulled off my finger," the Stellar Spirit answered. "His magic is highly magnetic." As he spoke, Lucy felt her keys being lifted from her neck, trying to float away but being held by her necklace.

"Aries, attack his open side!" Lucy commanded. Loki revealed to her when she first received Aries' key that she was not much of a fighter because Karen Lillica, their previous summoner, used her as a shield, but with encouragement the girl Spirit became one of Lucy's fiercest fighters.

Without a complaint, the Ram was at Gérard's exposed side, punching him with two of her fists and head butting him with her fierce horns. Gérard was sent careening away, his magical defense vanishing. He skidded to a stop, landing on his feet, and directed his hands at the timid spirit.

"Altairis!" he roared. Shadows were drawn to his form, converging into a single point between his hands, distorting the fabric of the space around him. It seemed to be a Void that was in his hands… Until Lucy saw tiny spots of light, almost like the night sky. Aries rushed forward to interrupt the attack, her hoofs patting against the ground, her fist pulled back ready to punch…

But the black orb in Jeral's hands launched itself toward Aries, hitting her right in the gut with painful slowness, knocking her back with pain but sinking into her body at a sluggish time rate. The extremely dense object pressed her into the floor in the next second as time seemed to return to normal.

"He's… manipulating gravity!" Loki gasped in shock, the first distressed emotion she had ever seen from him in battle. With wide eyes, Lucy watched the ball of darkness sink into Aries, pressing her agonizingly into the ground. "Dismiss her! Now!" Not needing to be told twice, Lucy closed the gate, surprised to meet resistance from Aries. She was willing to fight on and please her master. Shaken, Lucy paused in opening a new gate.

With explosive speed, Gérard soared toward the crystal again, and Loki moved to punch him with a glowing fist. Offhandedly, Gérard hit him right out of the way, and with fright, Lucy realized he was going after _her_.

"Barrier!" she cried as his form crashed into her defense, shattering it instantly. It only reduced his speed a little bit, and he crashed into her head-on. In incredible pain, Lucy wished herself invisible.

And she vanished.

"Lucy!" Loki roared. "Stay that way – I'll protect you!" He rushed Gérard again, who was hungrily looking for Lucy, and managed to hit him when he was off guard. Furious, Gérard rammed into Loki, causing him to skid across the ground and ultimately collide with a rock home, crumbling it to pieces.

"Loki!" Lucy yelled in a panic, lowering her invisibility spell to summon another Spirit. "Open!! Key to the – "

"Abyss Break!" Gérard snarled, and with ferocious speed, water, fire, earth, and wind all converged into one blast of darkness that screeched right towards her. She couldn't do a thing.

And with a roar of fire, Natsu was there, blocking the attack with all the power he could muster. The darkness was dissipated by the flames, and Lucy could see the beginnings of red scales forming on his skin.

"Natsu…" she said softly.

"Don't you dare hurt her!" he hollered, being propelled forward by his own flame. He unleashed a furious bombardment on the Heavenly Mage. With an inkling of hope, Lucy hoped that Gérard wouldn't survive such an assault, especially considering the damage he had already taken…

And then it occurred to her.

Just being in close proximity to the magic crystal, Gérard was being strengthened. He was gaining his energy back just as much as he was losing it. It was the only way to explain his unending mana power… Would he be able to fully restore his life? What would he do if he had sane thought over his actions?

She dismissed Loki, knowing that any damage he received would be recovered by a rest in the Stellar Spirit World, and she stumbled over to Wendy, who was still casting healing spells on Gray. Glowing wind continued to surround him. As she neared, the soft breeze seemed to reenergize Lucy.

"I've just been able to sustain him," she managed to say through her concentration, sweat streaming down her face. "He'll live."

"He's coming back!" Charle warned, her sword still ready in case the worst case scenario would happen. She was not leaving Wendy's side. Happy worriedly watched over Gray.

"Be careful, Natsu!" the male cat said.

"Where's Natsu?" Lucy cried, alarmed. Gérard was coming right toward them, and no defense was in sight! Summoning her Stellar Spirits would be no use, and she simply would _not_ summon them just to defend her from more damage! She could not mercilessly throw them away. She stepped forward, ready to take the full force of Gérard's power with just her whip.

"W-wait! I can still fight!" Wendy yelled to Lucy. Lucy stared him down, suffocating her fear in order to protect her friends. "Wind Barrier!"

"Nekousoku Tube!"

"Aera Magic: Transform!" several voices cried at the same time.

Several things happened at once.

Wendy's defensive magic surrounded Lucy again, a rippling sphere of wind. At the same time, Miriana came out of nowhere and fired her anti-magic rope at Gérard, which did not even pierce his Meteor spell, and _several people stepped between Lucy and Gérard_.

They all held an assortment of things, ranging from swords, to shields, to maces, and wands. At least four people, all with bird-like wings, moved in front of Lucy to defend her from Gérard.

"No!" Lucy yelled, as they were pushed aside like tissue paper. More and more of these people converged on Gérard, shocking the mages to no end. Where were they all coming from?

More and more voices around them shouted the strange Transform magic incantation, and then Lucy spotted them – they were the _cats_, the Aera. They could transform into humans.

"What's going on?!" Happy asked.

A woman, tall and slender, with the ears of a cat and the wings of a magnificent bird stepped up beside them, hefting a giant sword. "We are the Aera. Happy, Charle, there is an inherent ability within every one of our race to transform into full Aera and leave our cat bodies behind. With it, we can use the magic of humans. Help us. The crystal should aid you." And with that, she went off to battle.

They seemed to be able to do more than that. Lucy was panicked as they kept throwing themselves in front of her, risking death and worse, but many of them kept their speed and grace from being cats, as well as having quite a bit of strength for being able to lift massive swords. They all shouted various spells. She also noticed, with mild surprise, that they each had tails.

"Aera Magic: Transform!" Charle shouted at once. Her body began to warp, stretch, and change shape. Lucy gasped when she transformed into the figure of a fully grown woman, wearing the same clothes she wore as a cat. Stunned, she observed her own body, testing her new, longer limbs. Like all the others, she retained her ears, her wings, which were bird-like, similar to all the rest, her tail, and her snobbish look. "This is… strange," she commented. Her hair was long and blue, but straight and neat. She started to walk toward Gérard, who was being blasted with countless magics. He was retaliating with deadly ones of his own, bringing the urgency right back into the situation.

"What… is this?" Gérard rasped, saying something besides magic incantations for the first time. "Abyss Break!" The same elemental darkness spell surrounded him and expanded out towards the Aera, blasting many of them off their feet. With a battle cry, Charle sprinted at Gérard, her blade held high. He thrust a hand out at her.

"Shade!" he incanted. A series of ghostly images swarmed the Aera, knocking her to the ground.

"Charle!" Happy yelled for her. "I can help! I'll transform!"

"Hurry! Help her!" Wendy sobbed, ready to attack Gérard herself.

"Aera M-magic: Transform!" Happy said, but nothing happened.

"Say it with more conviction," Lucy advised hurriedly. "Open!! Key to the Crab, Cancer!" She was not sending her friend into danger without support.

Charle sliced at Gérard with her sword again, but more ghouls converged on her, eating away at her life energy, being absorbed by the Heavenly mage… She cried out in pain.

"Aera Magic: **Transform**!" Happy yelled with all of his might. Instantly, Lucy and Wendy were nearly blinded by the piercingly white light that engulfed the small cat. Intense magical power was being released from him. The two girls shielded their eyes. Even Cancer recoiled.

"What is this?" Lucy whispered inaudibly. "What kind of power is he releasing?"

Gérard felt the magical disturbance as his breathing became somewhat less ragged and his back became less hunched, more humanity returning to him slowly. His eyes still burned with animalistic rage. He glanced at the holy light being released from Happy.

When the piercing holy light began to fade, but not die completely, Lucy looked back up. Exactly where Happy was standing earlier, there was now a boy. He was young, but his gaze was fierce and settled only on Gérard. His hair was pure white, but short and messy. He was clad in a shining silver breast plate, gauntlets, and greaves. Holy energy and light continued to leak from him, rippling his hair and clothes.

Instead of bird wings, the boy was adorned with a pair of glowing angel wings. This was the only part of her cat friend that Lucy could recognize.

"Happy…?" Lucy asked timidly, feeling dwarfed by such power. He didn't answer, having eyes only for Gérard.

"You hurt my friends," he said, his voice untainted and potent. It seemed strangely deep for such a young boy. "I'm going to hurt you now."

Gérard only answered with a manic grin, covering himself in his own Meteor power.

The two forces clashed, discharging colossal magical force when they met. Their auras refused to mix with each other, so the two only came within inches of touching. They took to the air, clashing many times in just a few seconds all around the cavern. The angel being expelled balls of white energy from his hands, which were deflected by Gérard and exploded on contact with the cavern wall.

"They're going to bring this place down on us!" Wendy shouted in fear. "Gray, wake up!" she called to him, leaning down to kiss him softly on the cheek. The magic in her healing kiss finally roused him, and he opened his eyes with a groan. Lucy let out a cry of relief upon seeing him okay, and she fell to her knees at his side.

"You're alright!" she said, as the cavern shook from all the titanic clashes.

Charle, still in her humanoid form, used her sword to bring herself to her feet. "We must evacuate this place."

"It's coming right down," Gray managed to say. "Where's – " he moaned in pain, trying to sit up, "—Natsu?"

"I'm right here," he suddenly said, appearing atop a rock, grinning at them all and looking little worse for wear. "That holy thing is Happy, isn't it?"

"Yes," Lucy said, staring up at the struggle that continued above. Happy must have realized the damage he was causing to the cavern, so he flew to the hole that Gérard made upon his entrance, and took the fight to the sky.

"Whoaa!" Natsu said. "That's so amazing! Why didn't Happy tell me he could do this?" Lucy rolled her eyes at Natsu.

"He is the Aera of legend," said Miriana, appearing at their side again. "He must be. I've never seen this kind of magic."

"What does that mean, though?" Wendy asked curiously, manipulating her wind to breeze through as much of the cavern as she could, to heal the wounds of all the Aera.

"He will save the world," said the Aera woman from before, hobbling back to them using her great sword for support. "Your friend Happy is the Holy Dragon Slayer."

"What? That can't be true!" Lucy argued. "I read that legend myself. Happy wasn't born of dragon fire. He came out of an egg – he told me himself!"

"That's how all Aera are born," said the woman.

"I got it!" said Natsu, pounding a fist into his palm. "When he was still in his egg, I blew fire on him!"

Lucy stared at him blankly. "That doesn't count! That can't be right."

"Actually, Natsu uses dragon fire, does he not?" Charle proved with a smirk at Lucy.

"I don't believe it," said Gray. "He was never trained by the Holy Dragon."

"Thank you, Gray!"

"But there is no doubt that he is powerful," the ice mage added. "And he's untrained. Does he know what he's doing?"

"What if the Holy Dragon trained his egg?" Wendy suddenly piped up with excitement. Natsu jumped up with joy.

"Yes, that's got to be it!"

"It probably breathed fire on him too!" Wendy added. Lucy slapped her forehead.

"Yeah!" Natsu agreed. "You're brilliant!"

Lucy clasped her hands and looked up into the perfect circle of blue that was the sky. "Happy… Please be careful."

* * *

Happy's magical wings flapped, sustaining his new humanoid body in flight. He was still in awe over what he had become, and now that his rage over someone hurting his friends had diminished slightly, he was able to think about what he was doing.

His power, it was so bright and good! It was so great to be able to help! Now he would help Natsu beat up the bad guys. He wouldn't have to sit on the sidelines anymore!

His tail was good for righting himself in mid-flight, just like it was in his cat form. He could zoom all over the place, and keep hitting bad guy Gérard with all of his might. But Gérard didn't look so crazy anymore. Rational thought was returning to him. Could it be because of the Aera's crystal? Was he able to absorb its power this far away from it? Happy knew that he could.

Gérard stopped flying into Happy with all of his power, and now, he floated in midair far away from the cat-person to plan something. But Happy was confused, so he voiced his thoughts.

"How are you still alive?" he asked. "Didn't Erza-chan say you were absorbed into the Aetherion?" He tilted his head at the man possessed by the dark mage.

"Zeref saved me," Gérard replied, and Happy could hear a bit more humanity in his voice.

"Zeref is evil!" Happy gasped. "And I thought he never controlled you!"

"Zeref wasn't controlling me before," Gérard said darkly. Happy's wide, dark eyes looked at him in fear. "But now… Now he's with me for real, and I feel stronger than ever!" Gérard sped towards Happy again, but the human-cat hybrid was able to twist himself out of the way. The furious holy aura around him was now gone, and Happy didn't know if he could fight without it. Distracted by a quick flurry of white near his head, Happy grabbed it with unusually quick reflexes, and found his hands in his feathery white hair.

"Cool!" said Happy. "My hair is almost as spiky as Natsu's!"

"Fight me!" Gérard growled, stopping in midair. "Heavenly Magic: Seven Star Sword!" Seven piercing rays of light came into existence above the mage, and all of them united around the smaller boy's form. He screamed and shielded his face with his arms, and was shocked to feel a lack of pain. He looked up to see a glowing barrier covering his form, burning bright with the clash of two heavenly powers. Happy's eyes were wide and his mouth was gaping.

He looked over to see Gérard's furious reaction. Happy could see veins bulging in his face and chest (which was still exposed as a result of his tattered suit) as he struggled to contain it. His eyes were rolling to the back of his head, and then they became dark. Dark fire bloomed in both of his hands and even where his eyes used to be. Happy gasped with fear.

"You were chosen by the Holy Dragon?" Gérard asked. But it didn't seem to be Gérard anymore… This voice was deeper, darker, and far older. "Preposterous! You were just a cat!"

"Holy Dragon?" Happy questioned.

"You are the Holy Dragon Slayer in direct opposition to me, Zeref, the Dark Dragon Slayer!" he boomed, causing the boy to recoil in fright. "It is our fate to meet now and again in the future. I will see you when you are stronger, and when I am restored! Farewell, Holy Dragon Slayer." He joined his hands together and blasted Happy with the black fire faster than he could blink. The boy didn't even have time to cry out, and it hurt so much… Burned so much… He was falling, falling… And he didn't stop at ground level, returning right to the city of the Aera, and becoming smaller and smaller.

"Happy!" Natsu shouted, seeing an explosion of light and darkness, followed by the fall of a tiny blue form. Fire erupted around his feet and he propelled himself into the air, but the blue cat was plummeting to the ground, totally unconscious and spent of his magical power so that not even his wings were present. Natsu pushed himself faster, catching the cat just in time. Holding Happy in his arms, Natsu lowered himself to the ground. "What did he do to you?" he whispered to his unconscious friend.

Wendy, Lucy, Gray, and Charle rushed over to them.

* * *

**Author's Notes: About Happy, I wanted to do something different. I've never read a Fairy Tail fanfiction, but this seems so outrageous that I'm reasonably sure that no one has ever done this before. I hope you like. This story will continue into several more arcs. Next chapter is the conclusion to this one.**

**Please review!**


	4. Raven Tail

_**Tales of the Fairies**_

**Chapter Four—Raven Tail**

"So Gérard… Is alive now, isn't he?"

"For real this time… And more powerful than ever."

"It doesn't matter! I can still beat him!"

"Natsu, shut up, we're trying to think."

"Now you guys are leaving, aren't you?" Wendy asked, looking up from Happy's unconscious form, lying safe in bed. "Gérard probably isn't going to come back to the Aera's city."

"We'll leave once Happy wakes up," said Gray.

"I guess we'll have to tell Erza what happened…" Lucy remarked sadly.

"Ugh…" said the small, light voice of Happy, stirring from his deep sleep. Wendy said he wasn't wounded at all, just magically spent. He blearily opened his eyes.

"Happy!" Natsu shouted.

"Shh!" Lucy shushed him. "Give him some space, and be quiet!"

"…What happened?" Happy asked, staring around at everyone gathered around his bed, hunched together in the tiny rock house. Light from the exposed sky leaked in through the windows. "Where'd Gérard go?"

"He left," Lucy said gently. "Thank you for saving us, Happy."

Charle, in her cat form again, spoke. "Your power is amazing. Do you know what you are?"

"Gérard said Happy was the Holy Dragon Slayer," said Happy. "But he can't be right, 'cause his voice got all funny and his eyes became dark, and then he said he was Zeref."

"Zeref?" Wendy asked, horrified. "But I thought Zeref never possessed him!"

"Are you sure that's what you saw, Happy?" Lucy asked.

"Yes. And Zeref said he was the Dark Dragon Slayer," the cat answered. Nobody spoke. "And he said Happy was meant to oppose him!"

"Well… Then you need training!" said Natsu, grinning. "We just have to find the Holy Dragon now."

"You found Igneel, right?" Wendy asked him. "Did you hear anything about Grandine? Or Metallicana?"

"I know where they are," he said. "But now's not the time for you to go find them with Gazille and Happy."

"I don't know if I would trust Gazille to look after those two," said Lucy uneasily. "He's proven his loyalty to Fairy Tail numerous times, but… He's a bit rough and not too kid-friendly."

"When could we go, then?" Wendy asked eagerly.

"When you find all the rest of the Dragon Slayers," Natsu responded. Wendy gasped.

"But how many are there?"

"Igneel said that there are a total of seven," Natsu answered.

Lucy counted off on her fingers, speaking to Natsu. "So there's you, Wendy, Gazille, Happy, and now Zeref, I suppose."

"Wait… Are you supposed to train _with_ Zeref and his dragon?" Charle asked with distaste.

"Well… Igneel _did_ tell me that we were destined to defeat the Dark Dragon Slayer," said Natsu. "I just didn't think we'd find out who he was so soon! This is great! We can kill two birds with one stone – end the war, and defeat the Dark Dragon Slayer!"

"One problem, hothead," said Gray. "Zeref wasn't unsealed yet. We're trying to stop that from happening."

"We still have to find the last two Dragon Slayers," said Wendy. "Um…"

"What is it, Wendy?" Natsu asked kindly.

"Could I, um…" she wrung her fingers nervously.

"Wendy?" Lucy asked.

"Could I join Fairy Tail?" she blurted out. Lucy, Natsu, Gray, and Happy were taken aback by this proposal.

"Aren't you happy with Cait Shelter?" Gray asked her.

"I was…" she said. "But I left them before we started this mission. I want to join you and be with the other Dragon Slayers. Cait Shelter understood."

"And I left with her," said Charle. "May I also join?"

"We haven't had any new members since Makarov died," Lucy told them. "Our last members were Baithin and Ayri, before he was defeated. I don't know if the Fairy Council will let in anyone new."

"I'm sure they will!" Natsu exclaimed. "This is Wendy and Charle we're talking about! They're friends!"

"Would they let me in the guild, even though I was the one to revive Gérard?" Wendy asked quietly.

"Of course they would," Natsu answered. "That's not your fault!"

"But I did it on my own free will," she said. "I owed him a debt. He saved my life… But that's not Gérard anymore! The Gérard I knew… He was a good person, but Urtear was controlling him to do bad things."

"And now… there's Zeref," said Lucy. "We need to go back and report this to Erza, Gazille, Lluvia, and Mirajane."

"Aren't Mistgun and Gildartz part of the council, too?" Natsu asked in confusion.

"They're never around," Gray replied simply. "Come on, we should get going."

"But, Happy…" Wendy started, but the cat hopped up from the bed and smiled at them all, ready to leave. His recovery rate was unusually high.

"Aera Magic: Transform!" Happy called, instantly morphing into an Aera. Strangely, his powerful magical aura from the day before seemed to be gone, as well as the white he wore and the hair that was on his head. Now, his hair was blue, though it was the same length and style. His clothes took on a more casual look, composed of tight-fitting white and blue shorts and a leather jerkin that revealed his abdominal muscles, which were strangely toned for such a seemingly young boy. Wendy found herself blushing, and even Lucy was impressed.

However, in his human-Aera form, his wings were always present, as were his tail and ears.

"Being a human is fun!" he cheered. "Charle, do it with me!"

Lucy staggered. "Ugh… Does he realize what he just said?" But nobody else seemed to pick up on it.

"I can't," she admitted. "It's a large drain on my magical power. I can't hold the transformation for too long."

"Oh," he replied, marching right out of the rock house. Each of the mages wondered how long it would take them to get used to these new aspects of Happy and Charle as they prepared to leave the village of the Aera.

* * *

"Well, it was good to see you again!" Miriana waved to them as they left the village.

"Take care!" Lucy waved back. "Good luck to you and Toby!"

The girl smiled and hugged her boyfriend tightly. "Thanks!"

As they turned their backs on the Aera village and started walking through the ancient forest again, Lucy sighed despondently to herself. "Why can't I get a good boyfriend?" she mumbled wistfully. She saw Charle and Happy on much better terms with each other, both in their human forms now, and Gray had Lluvia… And she suspected that Wendy was developing a crush on Natsu… Why couldn't she, Erza, and Mirajane get good boyfriends? The three of them (four, including Lluvia-chan) were the best-looking girls in Fairy Tail! And they had the personalities to match!

"You've been holding that form for a long time now," Wendy commented to Happy. "Considering you just went through magical exhaustion, I don't think it's a good idea to hold the transformation…"

"But I feel fine!" Happy argued.

"Maybe it's because he's a Dragon Slayer," Charle put in.

"Yeah, we do have a high magic capacity… But still…" Wendy seemed unsure. "Tell me if you start getting dizzy. You were never a heavy magic user before, so you need to be careful."

"Not a problem," said Happy. "I feel great when I'm human!"

The group of six traveled back to Magnolia Town with relatively few problems, though Natsu found himself sick on the train again. Lucy summoned Plue, who efficiently kept her and Wendy and Happy entertained for most of the ride while they hid behind Scutum, the Shield, warding them from the smell of Natsu's bile.

Several hours later, they made it to the border of Magnolia Town, where the guild members branched off of the path and wandered into the forest on the east end of town. Once there, Lucy sent Plue and Loki ahead to notify the guild of their arrival, so no hidden traps would accidentally get set off (courtesy of Fried, though Levi did have the power to get her out of them. The two had begun challenging each other over who was better – Fried with setting the enchantments, or Levi who could dispel them).

Soon, they arrived at their forest home, and Lucy's two Stellar Spirits were dismissed while they greeted everyone quickly and asked to speak to the Fairy Council. Most of the members were wondering who the people were that they brought, but Happy and Charle transformed back into their cat selves, much to the shock of their observers.

As Gray and Natsu walked past Lucy to go into the main building, Lucy stopped, causing the others to halt and look back at her. "I think I'll talk to Erza about Gérard alone," she told them quietly, not wanting the other guild members hanging around outside to hear yet. Lucy knew that she'd be able to break it to Erza the easiest.

"That's fine with me," Gray said to her. Natsu looked at her with concern, but shrugged his shoulders.

"Okay. I'm going to get something to eat, then!" And he ran off. As Natsu ran ahead, he passed by a bald guild member, who noticed their arrival and started to walk over. He glared at Wendy and Charle.

"Who're they?" he asked. "You know we can't bring outsiders here. It's against the rules!"

"They're fine, Mikuni. They're part of the Light Alliance anyway," Lucy answered. "We have nothing to fear from them."

He glanced at the two uneasily, but didn't say another word as he walked away.

"Who is he?" Wendy asked timidly.

"He's Mikuni Sin, a strong Earth Mage. I'm sorry," Lucy said to her and Charle. "But nobody's used to seeing new guys around here anymore. They're too afraid of someone ratting out our location to someone, causing the Dark Guilds to come running…"

"But we'd never do that!" Wendy protested. Lucy smiled.

"I know." She turned to Gray, who was still with them. "I'll also tell the Fairy Council about everything else. It's… a really delicate manner," she said to him. "I'm also going to refer Wendy and Charle."

"Got it," he said. "Guess I'll wait for Lluvia to finish with you guys. Seeya later, then." As he walked over to his own tree home, Lucy took a deep breath and strode to the main building.

As soon as they entered, everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at the newcomers, Wendy and Charle, the latter of which was still in her cat form. Happy, sitting on Lucy's head, glared at all of them.

"I feel something funny in my head," Wendy pointed out, rubbing her forehead.

"Someone is intruding in our minds!" Charle exclaimed, putting a hand on her sword. Lucy rounded on the culprit, scaring him with her magical power.

"Warren! Get out of their minds!" she yelled at him, and he immediately shrunk back. Lucy sighed. "I can't really blame him. They all don't know that you can be trusted. He was just checking."

Mirajane was the only one who approached them, smiling.

"Who are your friends?" she asked, reminding Lucy quite abruptly of her mother.

"They're Wendy and Charle. Erza knows them," Lucy returned.

"Oh, well, in that case, they're welcome here. I've heard a lot about them," she added with a tinkling laugh.

"Where're the Council members?" Happy asked. "We've got loads to tell them!" And, still sitting on Lucy's head, he cried, "Aera Magic: Transform!"

A moment later, Lucy was down on the ground with a cat-like boy sitting on top of her.

"HAPPY!" Lucy yelled into the floor. "GET OFF!" Sheepishly, he stood up and helped her stand.

"Sorry," he said. Charle rolled her eyes and Wendy giggled.

Mirajane, however, was quite surprised. "Um… They're right up in their room. I'll go with you, since I want to hear about this!" Mirajane, reinstated to S-Class again, was part of the Council, though she didn't participate in most of their decisions for the war. She fought when she needed to, but she was part of the Council mainly to keep order in the guild in Makarov's heavy absence.

Mirajane led them to the Fairy Council's room, going to the wide tree trunk through the center of the bar tables and up the spiral staircase in the hollowed out tree. The second floor of the guild was smaller than the rest, and normally only the S-Class mages were allowed up, but this was for something quite important.

Predictably, only Erza, Gazille, and Lluvia were there. The latter two were seated around a table, while Erza stood at the front of the room and dictated battle formations to them. They all stopped when the others came up, and Mirajane took a seat next to Lluvia.

"Hi, guys. We're back," said Lucy, smiling sheepishly. Wendy and Happy greeted them all, while Charle stood with her arms crossed. "We've got a lot to tell you."

"Hello, Wendy," Erza welcomed with a warm smile. "And Charle," she said, nodding respectfully to the cat, which she returned. "Who is your new friend?"

"Hey, you little brat," Gazille said to Wendy, grinning. Wendy waved to her fellow Dragon Slayer.

Lucy chuckled. "Heh… About that…"

"It's me, Happy!" shouted the cat-boy, interrupting Lucy.

"Whoa! How did that happen?" Lluvia asked, completely taken aback.

"It's a transformation magic inherent to our race," Charle explained. "Observe. Aera Magic: Transform!" Her white fur darkened to blue as she became taller and more resembled Happy.

"That's not all," Wendy added. "Happy is the Holy Dragon Slayer!" Now, Gazille showed real surprise.

"What? That little cat… thing?" he asked.

"Yeah!" Happy said excitedly, flaring out his angel wings to their full length and releasing a light magic aura. "But I need to be trained."

Gazille clenched his fist, and Wendy averted her eyes. "Yeah," said Gazille. "We all do, but Natsu won't fess up about where the dragons are."

"He gave you his reasons," Erza defended him. "Anyway, what else have you discovered?"

"The identity of another Dragon Slayer," Lucy declared. Gazille looked up in surprise again. "The Dark Dragon Slayer, Zeref." In anger, Gazille pounded his iron-fisted hand down on the table, nearly destroying it.

"So there are two left." He turned to Lluvia. "Do you happen to be the Water Dragon Slayer? We could surely use another surprise," he said with bitter sarcasm.

Lluvia tapped a finger against her lips, not picking up on his sarcasm. "Lluvia doesn't think so."

"Thank you for telling us, Lucy," Erza said to her. "Is there anything else we need to know?"

Lucy thought back for a moment, thinking of Gérard, but decided to tell Erza that in private later. Then she remembered. "Oh! Wendy and Charle would like to join the guild."

"Very well," Erza said at once. "I've seen the two of them prove their worth many times. You're welcome with us. Gazille? Lluvia? Mirajane?" The two prospective Fairy Tail mages looked to them with hope.

"It would be wonderful to have them," said Mirajane.

"Yes, I've spoken to them lots of times!" Lluvia exclaimed. "They'd be loyal members."

"Neither of the two of them are that good at fighting," said Gazille. "But the little brat's a Dragon Slayer and Happy needs some cat lovin.'" Charle glared, Happy fainted, and Wendy blushed.

Erza coughed, trying to cover the moment of awkwardness. "Then you're both in," she said. Mirajane slid next to them, stamp and ink ready, giving Wendy her member stamp on the back of her neck and Charle on her paw.

"There you go!" Mirajane said happily. Lucy picked up Happy in her arms, who reverted back to his original form upon falling unconscious, and started to leave.

"Thank you," she said to them. "Erza? I have to speak with you later," she said, trying her best to hide her nervousness.

"Alright," Erza answered. Nodding to her friend, Lucy, Wendy, and Charle walked down the steps, leaving the Fairy Council with much to think about.

* * *

That night, in private, Lucy explained the full events of their mission to Erza, including everything that had happened with Gérard, how he was acting, and how Happy revealed that Zeref was controlling him for real now. Erza took all of this with coldness in her expression, not commenting on a single thing until Lucy was done.

"I see," was all that she said. And she left Lucy, walking back to her own quarters.

* * *

There were a lot of things Erza still didn't know.

She did not know Mistgun's true identity, or why he so heavily resembled Gérard.

She did not know if Gérard ever cared for her.

She did not know if he had any sane thought left, or if Zeref controlled all of his actions.

She did not know why she started to hide inside a suit of armor again.

She did not know if she could handle leading this guild with the Council, or if they would be overrun by the Balam Alliance. Their numbers had been reduced so much. Though the mages in Fairy Tail were powerful, she did not know if they would all survive this war. She did not know if they could win and defeat their enemies before Zeref was restored, which would mean instant loss.

Such young people, so few, were fighting for so much.

* * *

"Alright, this is gonna be an infiltration mission, so our team is small for a reason," Gazille announced to the whole guild. "The Council has decided to take action against Raven Tail."

There were many surprised gasps through the whole bar area. Raven Tail wasn't involved with the Balam Alliance. Why did they need to be involved now?

Most missions regarding the war were known throughout the whole guild, not only to keep everyone caught up on the war's status, but to be ready for any major changes that might come, as they had recently. The mission board was practically nonexistent now, since most missions were brought in by messengers, but now nobody could find the guild, so they didn't receive any. Instead, information was gathered by certain guild members who specialized in doing just that.

"Lucky, tell them," Gazille ordered the Wood Mage. The girl contorted the wooden floorboards and rose up several feet into the air to speak to them all. Pushing her glasses up her nose, she straightened a small pile of papers.

"Well… Recently, we've been stalking – "

"Spying," Gazille corrected her, rolling his eyes.

"_Ahem_ – Yes, spying – on Raven Tail and other such evil guilds to find out what they're doing in this whole bloody mess." She was stared at strangely, but she continued. "We have recently obtained knowledge that Raven Tail may be joining the Balam Alliance." Gazille looked up in her direction, about to interrupt, but Lucky screeched and smacked him across the face with a protruding branch. "Pervert! Stop looking up my skirt!"

"I wasn't doing that!!" Gazille roared angrily. "Anyway, point is, we're sneaking into Raven Tail to find out what they're doing so we can stop them!" he shouted to everyone else. "And _I'm_ one of the ones going in, with Mirajane and Visitor! Any objections?" At the stunned silence, Gazille shouted, "Good!"

"Why me?" Visitor asked with disdain.

"We need stealth specialists," Mirajane informed him before Gazille could get worked up again. "Since Team Shadow Gear is away on a mission, you and I are the next best thing."

"Since when is Gazille a stealth specialist?" someone muttered.

"He isn't, but he knows Raven Tail well, as you know," Mirajane informed them.

"Hold it!" shouted one snobbish voice above them all. Surprisingly, Evergreen stood. "Luxus is in that guild now, isn't he?" she asked. "I am coming along."

Erza, arms crossed, spoke. "No you're not."

"You cannot stop me from going," said the Stone Eye Mage pretentiously. "You know very well how important Luxus was to Raijinshuu. Right, Fried, Bixlow?" she asked, looking to her companions. The two backed away from her, to which she '_hmph_'ed.

"Fine, as long as you do not jeopardize the mission," said Erza with a small amount of dislike. Evergreen smirked triumphantly.

"Hey, wait!" Natsu shouted loudly. "That's not fair! Luxus owes me a rematch, so I'm coming along, too!"

"You wish, fire brat! You're way too loud!" Gazille bellowed at him.

"Look who's talking!" Natsu hollered back.

Wendy shrunk at the behavior of her fellow Dragon Slayers. "Oh… Are they always like this?"

"Unfortunately," said Gray, standing next to her. "SHUTUP!!" he yelled. Gazille and Natsu glanced at him for a moment, and ended up pulling him into the fight. Erza was about to step up and order them to stop, but Lucy beat her to it.

"ALL THREE OF YOU, STOP IT!" she shouted, scaring the crap out of all three of them. "You're all being idiots! Natsu, shut up and do as he says. Gazille, I don't want to hear it. You're both going, just so I can get some peace and quiet!" Gray smirked victoriously at the two, but she rounded on him. "And I didn't think you'd be stupid enough to get yourself involved!" Gray recoiled.

A moment later, the three mages were arm-in-arm, giving her fake smiles. Gazille included. "Yes, ma'am," they all said obediently. Everyone was stunned.

"She even has Gazille listening to her now?" Droy asked fearfully.

"Lucy is one _scary_ person," mumbled Max.

"She's about just as bad as Erza now," said Reedus, quivering.

Visitor, the Dancer, rubbed his forehead. "This is going to be one annoying mission," he muttered to himself.

Now, a new team, composed of Gazille, Natsu, Mirajane, Evergreen, and Visitor had their goals in mind – infiltrate the Raven Tail guild.

Erza wondered if she sent the right people, and hoped wistfully that Mirajane would keep them all from fighting.

* * *

**Author's Notes: A little shorter, but now we're moving into the next arc.**

**If some of you are wondering why Visitor, of all people, is with them (if you don't know who he is, he's that guy with a ponytail who wears those tight black suits and uses Dance magic), don't worry. He won't become a major character by any means. And neither will Evergreen, actually. I kept the introduced Fairy Tail members alive for a reason, and they'll all have some kind of part in this long story by the end. Most of them will only get moments in the spotlight for one mission, and then fade back into obscurity. It lets me play with all of the magic types.**

**Please review!**


	5. The Lachryma Mage

**Anonymous Review Response**:

Memory: I'd be flattered if you did a drawing :) Thanks for reading and reviewing!

_**Tales of the Fairies**_

**Chapter Five – The Lachryma Mage**

Before the team set out, Erza locked eyes with Gazille. "I need to have a word with you."

He nodded, and walked with her off to the side of the guild grounds, under the shade of one of the numerous trees. The iron mage crossed his arms. "What do you want?" he asked.

"Do not let Natsu know who Makarov's murderer is," she said to him sternly. "No one knows what he'd do if he found out. I care about him and I don't want him doing anything rash."

He nodded. "Yeah, yeah. But are you sure about this?"

"What?" she asked.

"Since you sent me on this mission I'm revealing my true intentions out in the open," he said.

"That's fine," she said. "Raven Tail was never a particularly good source of information anyway."

"So, what? You're dismissing my work as nothing?" he asked angrily.

"No, it did tell us valuable information, but because Raven Tail was never part of the Balam Alliance we never learned much concerning the war," she replied level-headedly.

He turned his head away from her and grunted. "Fine." And he went back to his team.

* * *

"Wait, so Luxus is in Raven Tail now?" Natsu asked the group as they walked. For a little while now, the location of the dark guild was known by the members of Fairy Tail. They had to make the journey entirely on foot, because taking the train would bring them too close to the guild and they didn't want to risk being found. "When did that happen?"

Evergreen rolled her eyes. "He joined almost as soon as he left Fairy Tail, you dunce," she snapped at him. "And you can't use your little two year vacation as an excuse for not knowing, because that happened before you left."

"Oh… Right," Natsu said sheepishly. Mirajane rubbed her temples in exasperation of Evergreen. "So… Who's the leader of Raven Tail again?"

"His name is Ivan," said Gazille. "How could you forget? He was in Fairy Tail back when you were a kid."

"Oh, I remember him now!" Natsu exclaimed. "He was kinda creepy. And a lot like Luxus. But I didn't see him much, 'cause he was S-Class and thought I was weak."

"That would be because Luxus is his son," Mirajane told him. Natsu almost bugged out.

"So that means… Ivan is the old man's son?"

"That is such old news, idiot," Evergreen said, irritated.

"Oh." Natsu was quiet for a moment, a small blessing to the others, until he spoke up again. "I can't wait to see Luxus again and fight him. I wonder what he's up to?"

Visitor was also almost near breaking point. "Will you stop asking questions?!"

"Hey, I'm bored, and since neither Happy nor Lucy are here…"

"With any luck," Mirajane interjected, before a fight could get going, "You won't have to fight Luxus. This is a quiet infiltration mission, remember?"

"But they're a dark guild! We should take them down!" Natsu argued. "They can't be that tough."

"Do you pay any attention?" Gazille asked with annoyance. "Raven Tail is one of the strongest guilds out there."

"They're about equal with the Oracion Seis, Grimoire Heart, and Tartaros in terms of strength," Mirajane informed.

"At the moment, they're also the biggest guild in the world," said Visitor. "Don't underestimate them."

"Well," said Natsu, doing punching motions in the air, "all we have to do is beat Ivan and they'll be down!"

"Do you seriously think Luxus will take that sitting down?" Evergreen asked, rolling her eyes at him again behind her glasses.

"Luxus can't do much of anything right now," said Gazille. All eyes were on him, except for Mirajane's.

"What do you mean?" Evergreen immediately questioned with concern.

"You are all aware that his Lightning Dragon Slayer powers are fake, right?" he asked. Natsu nodded, narrowing his eyes. "They are a result of charged lachryma crystals inserted into his body. Those are what he draws his magic from."

"Yeah, so?" asked Visitor.

"Master Ivan has been taking them out of Luxus for the past two years," he said coldly. Three sets of eyes widened.

"How do you know that?" Natsu asked.

"It was information that the whole Fairy Council knew," said Mirajane. "We didn't want everyone knowing what has been happening to someone who was previously among us…"

"But, taking that lachryma out will…!" Evergreen started.

"It'll kill him," Visitor stated, crossing his arms. Gazille nodded.

Natsu stopped walking.

The others turned back to him as his face darkened. "What kind of person would do that to their own son?" he asked, his voice low. "What kind of monster is Ivan?!" Fire raged on his fists as he glared up at them.

"Natsu…" Mirajane said sadly. "Calm down. The experiments aren't done yet. We can stop Ivan and save him before the last lachryma crystals are taken out."

"So… Once those crystals are gone, his Dragon Slayer magic will go away?" Natsu asked.

Evergreen sighed and shook her head, but Visitor glared at him and answered. "Natsu, he'll be _dead_."

Natsu pumped a fist into the air. "Alright! So that's our goal! Take down Raven Tail and save Luxus!"

Evergreen gave an annoyed noise, Visitor sighed, Mirajane shook her head and rubbed her temples again, and Gazille ignored him. Natsu, ever the optimist, didn't seem to notice.

* * *

His body was ridden with old scars, barely healed over. It was hard to tell if they were old puncture wounds, bruises, cuts, or deep gashes, but when they were inflicted on him they were obviously painful.

Once again, he was going through the same kind of pain.

A young raven-haired girl, barely ten years old, was standing over him, holding a tiny palm over his bare chest. She was garbed in a white lab coat with large, wiry glasses, deep in concentration. She was being overseen by an older man.

The object of their attention was the scarred man on the table, strapped down and unconscious, a strange machine reading off his current level of magical energy. The skin below the little girl's hand was rippling ominously.

"Magic levels at twenty-six percent," said the girl monotonously. "Lachryma drain process is going smoothly."

"Very good, Niirima," said the older man, a dark smile growing on his face. Now that the full set of lachryma crystals was almost out of the mage's body, the man would be able to sell them, gaining a huge fortune for the guild coffers. Once this last lachryma crystal was at fifteen percent of its magical level, Niirima would remove it, because at that moment the bond between the crystal's magic and the subject's own magic was weak enough to break.

Since the boy's body relied on the lachryma crystals for so long, the removal of the last one would ultimately kill him.

And then, the energy left over in the lachryma crystals would multiply, restoring them to full power without the influence of a mage controlling it. Then, any buyer would be able to harness the power for themselves.

Unfortunately, with the amount of lachryma crystals in his body, it took two full years to remove them all by lowering their magic levels. If they were removed forcefully, then all the magic would be lost. It was a long, delicate process.

Ivan's smirk grew wider as he watched the procedure, waiting patiently for the time to come.

* * *

"What a creepy place," Natsu commented, as the Fairy Tail team overlooked a dark castle. The Raven Tail guild was located in a dark forest, deep in seclusion. The forest was full of dead trees, lifeless husks still standing bare. Crows and ravens seemed to be the only inhabitants they could see. The group hid themselves in a grove devoid of trees, a fair distance away from the guild building.

"Mirajane, do it now," said Gazille. The girl nodded.

"Got it," she said, transforming in front of their eyes. Instead of resembling another person, in her place was just a small, black raven. Giving them a quick bird call, the raven flew towards the castle.

"Where's she going?" Natsu asked.

"She's going to find Ivan himself and spy on him," Gazille answered. "If she notices anything, or needs help, we'll ignore stealth and charge him."

"Then he's going down!" Natsu cheered.

"Don't shout, fool!" Evergreen shushed him. Visitor Echo crossed his arms and shook his head.

"Evergreen, Visitor, let's go," said Gazille, tightening his fists. He shook his wild mane of hair as his face stretched into a wide grin. They began to move out.

"Wait!" Natsu called. "What about me?" He crossed his arms as he stared at his rival.

Visitor, the quickest thinker, responded first. "Uh… Just stay here and be our lookout. Cover us when we infiltrate the guild, and then be our back-up." Natsu eyed the dancer suspiciously, but his face brightened.

"Got it!"

"I don't see how this mission will succeed when we have Natsu with us," Evergreen said, rolling her eyes.

"He's a good fighter," Visitor admitted. "But he is better for destruction, not stealth."

"Quiet, you two," Gazille warned them, as Evergreen uttered a quick '_hmph_.' The three mages crept to the side of the castle, avoiding the guild's sentries as they hid in the darkness. At the base of one of the castle's ramparts, Gazille revealed an iron grate that led underground.

"Ugh. Don't tell me we're going in the sewers," Evergreen muttered disdainfully. Gazille didn't answer, preferring to send a glare at her as he warped the metal and jumped into the exposed hole. Visitor followed, landing lightly on his feet, avoiding the thick, disgusting sludge. Evergreen unfurled her insect-like wings and fluttered down below, unwilling to let her feet chance touching the gross substance beneath her. "It absolutely reeks in here!" she said snobbishly. "Fairy Magic: Sweet Aroma!" A soft, purple powder snowed down from her wings, releasing a tantalizingly sweet scent that negated the smell of the sewage very effectively.

Visitor raised an eyebrow at her.

"What?" Evergreen asked him, winking. "A good mage has to have practical magic, too!"

* * *

"Magic levels at twenty-one percent," Niirima stated, light reflecting off of her round glasses as she gave Luxus' unconscious body a small smile. He was beginning to convulse with pain, a sure sign that his overall magic level was lowering along with the single piece of lachryma inserted in him.

"Good," said Master Ivan, turning towards the lab exit with a swirl of his cape. "Send Nyla to alert me when the process is nearly finished."

* * *

Some time later, Gazille stopped them along their sewer path and plunged his hand into the thick metal, easily piercing it and gouging a new hole for them to emerge. Visitor slunk out first and Evergreen buzzed after him, followed by Gazille himself. They had surfaced in a dark, cramped, stony corridor that looked as if it had been unused for years. "You two," Gazille spoke up, "will go that way." He pointed down one end of the hallway. "We have to split up. I'm going alone."

Evergreen and Visitor nodded. He was an S-Class Mage, and thus, their leader for this mission. As their eyes adjusted to the darkness, the two mages watched as the piercings on Gazille's face disappeared as he turned away from them and began to walk away.

For some reason, Evergreen felt suspicion sprouting somewhere in her mind. "Why split up and reduce our numbers?" she asked. She gently touched the floor, folding her wings back against her body. "How well do you know this place?"

"I know it like the back of my hand, so stop trying to be so concerned," he said gruffly. "Your path will lead to the dungeons. From there, you will work your way up. Now go."

"What are you planning?" Visitor asked, picking up on Evergreen's suspicion. "You know this place a little too well, I think."

"That's because I've been spying on them for two years," he growled. "Don't bother asking stupid questions. You knew that already." The two lower-class mages didn't say another word as the Metal Dragon Slayer turned around and strode into the darkness.

* * *

Natsu paced, and paced, and paced.

He wasn't worried for his friends. He was just bored. He was stuck sitting here out in the woods, when he knew he'd be a perfectly good help inside the castle, fighting right alongside them. And he wanted to duel Luxus – he wasn't going to give that battle to Gazille or one of the others. Fidgeting, and unable to restrain himself, knowing they needed his help just in case they got into any battles, Natsu dashed up to the main entrance of the guild with excitement in his eyes.

A wrought-iron gate blocked his way into the castle, but from what he could see (courtesy of torches burning bright along the walls on the inside) a corridor inside extended far, ending near a stone door.

Natsu grinned.

* * *

Gazille passed numerous Raven Tail members as he strode confidently through their halls, making no attempt to hide himself. The members of the dark guild eyed him strangely, but he paid them no mind other than the occasional glare to tell them to get the hell out of his way. To Raven Tail, he was one of them.

Gazille found himself in front of a heavy, ornate steel door which he opened without knocking.

"Welcome home, Gazille," said a rough voice from inside, with a hint of fatherly affection. The Iron Dragon Slayer stepped into the room with heavy-booted feet, gazing all around him without a care in his eyes. Multiple black ravens were all throughout the man's personal chambers, given free entry by the open balcony.

Master Ivan had not changed in the year since Gazille had seen him. He still kept the ragged beard, and the beady black eyes still contained their steely glint. He was clad in dark, spiked armor, his arms folded with one large raven, his familiar, resting on his shoulder. Upon seeing Gazille, one of the smaller ravens cawed in surprise, currently perched on the stone balcony.

The largest raven, on Ivan's shoulder, glared at him suspiciously with an ominously green eye.

"Fairy Tail has finally moved into action against you, Master," Gazille stated, crossing his arms. "They are infiltrating the guild as we speak. There are three of them, besides myself. One of those is Natsu, the Salamander."

"Excellent work, Gazille," Ivan said with a smirk, bestowing him with a rare compliment. "Those fairies will be squashed immediately."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," Gazille said with a formal bow. "I will go to deal with them myself." He left.

The raven that was perched on the balcony cawed, turned around, and unfurled its wings with the intent to fly away. Suddenly, it found itself unable to as binding magic surrounded it, concealing the bird inside a small, round force field. Cawing in panic, the force field levitated over to Ivan's hands, floating in front of him. He stared into the bubble.

"Did you think you could fool me, Mirajane?" he asked silkily. "Oh, don't be surprised," he added, when the struggling bird became still. "I knew it was you since the beginning. You cannot transform back into your human self." His expression became more serious. "Now, I wonder why Gazille failed to mention you, dear Mira-chan?"

The bird in the bubble cawed and flapped her wings, rendered totally useless.

* * *

Natsu burst into the guild's entrance hall, surprised to see at least a hundred mages lounging around as they often did in his own guild. He took a deep breath and shouted as all eyes were immediately on him, readying their weapons and magic. "Hey, everybody! Tell me where Luxus is!"

Instead of answering him with words, he was immediately peppered with magic from all sides. Before they could hit him, however, Natsu shouted, "Fire Dragon's Inferno!" Flames gushed out of his outstretched arms and open mouth, exploding outwards and incinerating a good number of the mages and magical attacks around him.

The magical bombardment stopped.

Natsu perused the burning wreckage around him, keeping his eyes out for any enemies still standing, knowing that he was in a great amount of danger here that did nothing to dampen his determination. Smoke obscured his vision, but he waited.

The smoke was dissipated in a furious wind attack that swept through the whole entrance hall and blasted Natsu back through the stone doors he entered through. He rolled to his feet quickly enough, ready to engage in open combat with his surviving enemy.

His eyes widened in surprise when he saw the familiar shirtless, tattooed body, hefting a thick scythe over his shoulder. The mage in front of him grinned sadistically at Natsu. "Salamander… Finally, I'll get revenge."

"Oh, hey Eligor!" Natsu called back, waving. "How've you been?"

The old enemy grunted and swung his scythe into a ready position. "After Eisenwald broke up, because of you flies, I joined up with Raven Tail," he explained. "I've been waiting for a chance to fight you again. I've become much stronger, Salamander."

"Me too," Natsu said with a grin. "Time for a rematch?"

"I'd think so," Eligor stated. "Wind Shear!" he yelled, swinging his scythe and releasing a bladed arc of air. The wind did a fair amount of damage to the stone floor and walls, but Natsu managed to avoid the attack as flames burned on his fists.

"Let's go, then!"

* * *

Evergreen and Visitor, still undiscovered, crept through the enormous castle with the utmost amount of stealth. Evergreen examined her comrade's abilities – as far as she knew, he was just a support type, and she wondered if he'd be any use to her. His tight-fitting black suit allowed him to be quiet as he slipped along the stone floors, but would he be any use in actual combat? They had some close calls with the members of Raven Tail, but so far they had managed to avoid being caught.

"I can sense large magical signatures all throughout the castle," Visitor told her.

"Oh?" she asked him, crouching down as they edged around a corner. She barely paid attention to the boy.

"They're all around us right now," he said. "There is one particularly powerful one somewhere above us. I'm willing to bet that it's Ivan. There are two others somewhere near the castle's entrance, I think," he stated. Then he rubbed his chin in concentration. "And there are two more near us. I think that's our best bet."

Evergreen was stunned with his sensory abilities. "How do you know that? And that's our best bet for what?"

"I have to know the energy levels of the people around me if I have to strengthen or weaken them," he pointed out to her. "As for the magical signatures near us? One of them is Luxus, though it is fading."

Evergreen's eyes widened. "Luxus…" Her face settled into one of determination. "Okay, let's go, bubble butt!"

Visitor staggered at the nickname, suddenly becoming very self-conscious, but he reluctantly led the way for a giggling Evergreen.

Soon, they came upon a wide chamber behind a forbidding wooden door, and the two poked their heads in. It seemed to be some sort of laboratory, with strange machines arranged around a table with an unconscious body on it. A tiny girl in a white coat and large glasses stood over the body. Over Luxus.

The wooden door burst open as Evergreen announced her presence to the child scientist, deeming the small girl harmless. "Hand over Luxus this instant!" she demanded, as Visitor slunk in after her.

"Fat chance," said the girl. "He makes such a good study subject. Nyla, deal with them." Suddenly, from a corner, Evergreen and Visitor were thrown into the wall by some sort of shockwave, stunning the two. Neither of them had seen this attacker.

It was a woman scarcely older than Evergreen herself, dressed smartly and fashionably, if a little outlandish, holding a magic microphone mounted on a rod. Some strange noise that Evergreen assumed was this woman's voice accompanied the shockwave, and she deemed that it was this woman, Nyla's magic, that had assaulted them.

"Got it, Niirima," said Nyla. "I've been waiting for a good fight." Her voice was smooth and elegant. Evergreen and Visitor righted themselves quickly. "How are his magic levels?" she asked the small scientist.

Niirima grinned. "Sixteen percent. You're too late, Fairy Tail. Just a few minutes more and the last lachryma crystal in Luxus will be removed."

"No!" Evergreen yelled. "You will not get in my way of saving Luxus!"

Niirima laughed, and it was such a chilling cackle for a girl her age. "In order to get to my experiment, you will have to go through me first!" she said arrogantly, smirking. Evergreen was unable to see her eyes behind her huge glasses. What could a ten year-old do against _her_? Niirima's arms rose, bringing with them differently colored crystals from all throughout the room. "My power lets me control lachryma crystals and the magic contained inside them. You'll find that I am the most versatile enemy that you will ever meet!"

The chamber was large enough for a good fight, but there were more than a dozen crystals hovering in the air over them. A glow from one crystal was all the warning Evergreen got as she was blasted with lightning from it. She cried out, burned and wounded, but she did not fall. She unfurled her wings, ready to fight this young girl. There was plenty of room to fight without harming Luxus.

She took to the air, weaving through Niirima's numerous crystals as they tried blasting her with lightning, fire, wind, and water, while some just flew at her without magic and attempted to impale her. As she flew, however, she released a constant amount of dust. As soon as she was able, she flipped around and thrust her arm at Niirima.

"Fairy Bomb: Gremlin!" she shouted, as the millions of glittering dust particles exploded all around the girl. Four lachryma crystals shot to the scientist's side and formed a four-point barrier that blocked the attack. Right after her attack, Evergreen just barely swerved out of the way of a rush of ice from behind her. Gazing right at Niirima, Evergreen used her primary ability and lowered her slim, classy glasses, staring at the girl with her bare eyes.

Nothing happened.

"What was that, you fool?" Niirima questioned, her glasses shining. Evergreen cursed inwardly. Just as Evergreen's glasses contained her power, Niirima's own blocked it.

On the other side of the chamber, Visitor calmly contemplated his enemy. The singer was a very offensive fighter, and he was doing all he could to dance out of the way of her attacks, using his superior evasion. The problem was that he had no spells to retaliate with.

Suddenly, a machine beeped loudly, interrupting both battles abruptly. Four sets of eyes turned to the machine, and Niirima grinned widely.

"That's it, Fairy Tail mages," she said to them. "You're too late. The magic draining process is finished. The lachryma crystal can be removed now." And before anyone could do anything, Niirima executed a vicious grabbing motion, and Luxus' chest exploded in a fountain of blood as a dirty lachryma crystal zoomed to a stop in front of the scientist. Evergreen cried out.

"Luxus!"

"That's it, you've failed," Niirima announced to them. "Our set of thunder lachryma is complete! Master Ivan will be so happy!"

Evergreen looked at Luxus' body in horror.

* * *

**Author's Notes: Is this cliffy too mean? Sorry :)**

**Next chapter, we'll see the continuation of Natsu's fight with Eligor, the conclusion to the one between Evergreen and Niirima, as well as Visitor and Nyla. Also, we'll see what's up with Gazille and how he fits into Ivan's plans! Also, Luxus' fate will be revealed!**

**Hehe. Please review, everyone! Thanks for the feedback so far. I'm glad to get what I got, and I hope I'm contributing a story good enough to the Fairy Tail fandom :)**


	6. The White Raven

**Author's Note: I've gone back and changed all instances of "Jeral" to the more popular Gérard. Sorry if this causes any confusion.**

_**Tales of the Fairies**_

**Chapter Six – The White Raven**

Natsu executed a quick Fire Dragon's Talon wordlessly as his feet erupted into flames and sent kicks at his opponent. The scythe of his enemy was raised to block the blows, but the force of them continued to send him back.

"Wind Shear!" Eligor growled, swiping his scythe at Natsu again. The blade of wind swept right by Natsu, who propelled himself to the side by shooting fire from the bottoms of his feet. He gave himself the advantage of elevation as he shot into the air, hurling fireballs at Eligor as much as he could. In response, the Shinigami smirked, spinning his scythe. "Wind Funnel!" The scythe picked up fierce winds around it, shooting off a wide funnel that caught all the fires of Natsu's attack. Curiously, the wind seemed to make the fire expand, shooting it off in all directions. And then the mass of fire and wind was shot back toward Natsu.

Eyes widening, the Salamander knew he could not eat his own fire, so he tried dodging to the side but quickly realized there was nowhere to go. He rolled into a ball as the fire and wind swept over him, forming a small, fiery shield to absorb as much of the blow as he could. Weathering the attack, Natsu emerged with a smirk for Eligor.

"That didn't hurt at all!" he taunted, continuing to float several feet above the Wind mage. Eligor snarled and thrust his hands towards the ground. The air seemed to be pulled towards him, revolving around his legs. For one quick moment, Natsu thought that Eligor was creating his impenetrable, but easily beatable, Wind Armor again. However, his suspicions were dashed when the tornado stopped around his waist and levitated him into the air on the same level as Natsu. He held his arms out, bearing the scythe with one hand.

"Tornado Pillar!" he said tremendously. "I'm going to kill you, Salamander."

"As if!" Natsu scoffed, shooting towards his opponent.

* * *

Evergreen's mouth was hanging open in horror, quite undignified, as she watched the blood erupt from a new hole in Luxus. The lachryma crystal that Niirima had withdrawn from his body crackled in electricity as Luxus screamed in pain. Evergreen attacked the diminutive scientist viciously in her anger.

"Fairy Machine Gun: Leprechaun!" she shrieked, throwing her arms down at the girl. Magic needles erupted from her fingertips, bombarding the young scientist. Evergreen hoped each and every one would impale her for doing this to Luxus… She was a monster.

But the magic contained in the lachryma crystals protected her again. "What's the point in fighting?" Niirima asked her quite calmly, though she was quivering in excitement. "The last crystal was removed from your friend, and you failed to protect him. You lost. Luxus Dreher is dead!"

The young man on the lab table continued to let out agonizing screams, writhing on the table as the magical bonds in his body were broken. He broke free of the straps binding him to the table in one rush of anger, surprising even Niirima.

"What's this? What is he doing?" she yelled. Evergreen flapped her wings well out of their reach, beginning to fear what was happening. The strange machines attached to Luxus began to smoke and crackle, eliciting sparks and bits of lightning onto his arms, vanishing upon contact with his skin. Some were drawn into his open mouth as he shouted his throat raw. He didn't seem to be in control of his actions. "This is impossible!" Niirima cried.

And then a burst of energy was expelled from Luxus, taking the form of a shockwave of lightning which struck the scientist head-on and threw her to the other side of the chamber. The magic machines on all sides of him were vaporized. At this, the immense pain seemed to be gone as he sat up abruptly and put a hand on his chest, panting. Tiny strands of lightning jumped in and out of the wound, partially healing it.

"Luxus!" Evergreen exclaimed, flying to his side. "Are you okay?"

In his weariness, he stared at her bleary-eyed. "Evergreen…?" he asked with confusion, as if he wasn't sure she was there.

Before the Fairy could say anything further, Niirima stumbled to her feet. "How are you alive? How have you retained your powers?" she asked with fury. The lachryma crystals rose with her as she stood. "Your magic was taken by the crystals!"

He moved to rise from the table, rejecting Evergreen's offer to help, and glared at her. "Because… I'm the true Lightning Dragon Slayer. I was raised by the dragon Blitza when my father abandoned me."

Niirima was livid.

"YOU ARE LYING!!" she screamed, as the lachryma crystals trembled with her temper. "You didn't show any signs of magic until Master Ivan implanted the crystals! You were weak!!"

His face was pinched in rage as he glared at her, punching forward an arc of lightning at the girl. "I'M NOT WEAK!" he roared as the lightning streaked toward her. Her flimsy barrier was like paper under his power, ripping through it and smashing her against the wall, when it promptly exploded. "That's for using me as your guinea pig the last couple of years," he said coldly as the girl didn't rise.

"Is she… dead?" Evergreen asked.

"Probably not," he replied. "But she's probably not getting up anytime soon." He tried to stand, but winced in pain and grabbed his wound.

"Let me help you," she said sternly, hooking her arm under his and helping him stand. He groaned once, but stared at her perplexedly.

"You've changed," he managed to say. Two years ago, she would have never done this for him, viewing him as an unyielding warrior. She practically worshipped him. But now she looked at him with care in her eyes, viewing the Lightning mage as an equal.

She laughed to herself. "It's because of Fairy Tail," she admitted. "Now that Fried, Bixlow, and I have spent more time with them…" She trailed off, noticing that Visitor's battle was just finishing.

* * *

The dancer and the singer continued their engagement, which mostly consisted of Nyla sending sonic blasts from her voice at Visitor, causing him to slip out of the way and evade. The young man was hard-pressed to get an attack in on her – his Dance magic was used for support, not offense. He didn't even have any defensive dances, so he was forced to dodge her attacks as much as he could.

His type of magic was a strange one, but it was put to good use in his guild's many battles. By dancing, he released a certain type of magic that empowered his allies or weakened his enemies. Each dance had a different effect, but none of them were outright attacks. He could only enfeeble Nyla's attempts to hurt him.

"Darkness Dance," Visitor murmured, twisting low and moving as much as he could, casting a spell of darkness upon Nyla. A cloud of black smoke materialized around her head, obstructing her sense of sight. She groaned in annoyance. Visitor neared the Raven Tail mage slowly, constantly dancing – stopping would get him killed. If he paused in his dancing for even a second, the spell would be broken and she would be free to attack him. These kinds of spells worked best when he had other mages on his side.

"You think this will stop me?" Nyla asked with a sneer, not even facing his direction. The rod on which her magic microphone was mounted on was slammed into the ground as she sung a high note into it, releasing a shockwave of sound on all sides that slammed into Visitor and thrust him away from her. "Hah! Now I know where you are!" she taunted. "Prepare for my lullaby…" Her next note was one that was deep, slow, and seducing, gazing upon his form as it slowed. He could not dodge something like this, and since he stopped dancing from her attack she was able to see him perfectly. Visitor's eyelids drooped and his movements became sluggish as he tried to reach her.

Suddenly, on the other side of the chamber, a shockwave of lightning was released from the form of Luxus, causing them both to forget their battle momentarily. Nyla even stopped her song, looking over and worrying for Niirima. Visitor took this chance as her spell was broken.

He danced. His movements were fast, sharp, and dangerous, picking up in speed and building momentum. He spun, ducked, and weaved as his magic took effect. His dance was one to increase physical strength – not very useful in a guild of mages, but it was his only chance here. He flipped over to Nyla, pulled back his fist, and struck.

She pulled her eyes away from the lightning just in time to see Visitor's fist flying at her face. With pure instinctual actions, she lifted her metal rod to block the blow. Normally, any kind of mage wouldn't be able to do any damage to metal, building their minds instead of their bodies, but his strength enhancement enabled him to bend the metal rod almost completely in half, stopping his punch just inches from her face. Nyla's eyes were wide with astonishment as she pulled away from him, going as far as to swing her rod for any kind of defense. The dancer ducked under the blow and landed on the floor, spinning his upturned feet and pulling her legs out from under her. The singer fell against the stone with a grunt of pain, but not before he punched her with all his strength in midair.

Sent skidding to the other side of the chamber, Nyla stumbled to her feet. "I'll kill you with my Death Song!" She opened her mouth, inhaled, and was about to release one of her deadly notes when he was on her again, slamming his heel against her face. His movements still resembled a dance as he fought, weaving under her feeble blows and returning his own while remaining perfectly in rhythm.

* * *

Luxus felt his body being reenergized as he and Evergreen watched Visitor dance. He was somewhat surprised to see someone like _him_ doing so well against one of the higher-ups of the Raven Tail guild. Perhaps the members of Fairy Tail weren't so weak after all.

And, strangest of all, Evergreen was watching his battle with something akin to worry in her eyes.

After another minute of watching Visitor fight, he felt strong enough to stand on his own, separating himself from Evergreen as Visitor struck his final punch against Nyla. The Dance mage was panting after his opponent fell unconscious. As soon as the dancing stopped, Luxus was almost overcome with a wave of dizziness, but he braced himself against Evergreen momentarily and stood up straight. The wound on his chest was not yet fully healed.

"Visitor, are you alright?" Evergreen asked him, but she didn't move to leave Luxus' side.

The dancer wiped his bloodied lip and smirked triumphantly. "I'm fine."

"Not for long." Three heads turned to the doorway of the nearly-destroyed chamber, falling into battle stances as they regarded the new arrival.

"Ivan," Luxus said coldly. His father drew himself to full height, giving the three mages a deadly smirk. His raven familiar, the largest of them all, was perched on his shoulder while a second one was inside some kind of magic bubble. The one that was under the enchantment was flapping its wings frantically.

"That's Mirajane!" Evergreen shouted, pointing at the second raven. The Guild Master let out a deep, bellowing laugh.

"I saw this fine specimen in my private chambers, but it was such an unnatural bird… I was not fooled for a second. It was one of you weaklings, coming to your own deaths. I might as well end all of your pitiful existences – " He was cut off upon noticing Luxus for the first time. "Niirima! Where are you? Finish the experiment now!!" he roared. Behind them, in the rubble of Luxus' attack, a tiny body stirred.

"I… did complete it, Master…" Niirima managed to say, groaning in pain. "The s-subject survived."

Ivan's eyes widened and he clenched his fists until they were white. "What?!" The raven on his shoulder, disturbed, flew to a shelf near the ceiling. "Niirima, you know the price for failing me!"

"M-Master, I—" She was interrupted from saying anything further, because Ivan thrust out his hand and she seemed to turn into a small, blank, human-shaped piece of paper which gently fluttered to the ground. Evergreen and Visitor seemed frozen with fear.

"You two," said Luxus quietly to Evergreen and Visitor. "Distract him for me. We need to get Mirajane free – she's our only hope of winning. We need her help." Upon hearing his voice, Evergreen nodded resolutely.

"You're actually going to help us?" Visitor asked, peering at him curiously.

Luxus nodded. "This guy's treated me like trash since I came here, using me only for his experiments and keeping me under anti-magic fields. He is not my father. I am going to kill him."

"Fairy Arrow: Elf!" Evergreen cried, thrusting her fingers forward. A beam of light formed around her fingertips and fired at Ivan with surprisingly immense magical power. Before reaching Ivan, however, the bolt flattened and turned to paper, streaming by him harmlessly. Evergreen grit her teeth and was forced to fly out of the way as the largest raven came pelting towards her. Meanwhile, the orb with Mirajane inside continued to levitate around him.

Visitor headed for the guild master in a dash, jumping up to kick the magic orb away from him, but with a single movement of his arms, a flock of paper ravens rose from the ground and turned into living ones, all of which flew at the dancer in a single mass. They pecked and clawed at him mercilessly as he shielded his eyes and tried kicking them away from him, but to no avail. They each turned to paper before being hit and immediately turned back to resume their attacks.

"_Resounding __through the air, the roar of thunder, plunge from the heavens and reap destruction!_" Luxus incanted, calling down a raging bolt of lightning upon Ivan. This was the first attack that the Guild Master really had to dodge, but he left the raven in the barrier in the path of the attack. Upon seeing this, Luxus thrust a hand forward, shooting a smaller, but quicker shock of lightning from his fingertips. "No!"

The effects of what he did were lost in the blast of light that followed, nearly blinding everyone. Luxus didn't know if he managed to save Mirajane by knocking her out of the way of his own attack… He did nothing else except stand and hope. He never wished for something as fiercely in his life.

In the aftermath of the attack, four mages laid their eyes on the vaporized ground, which created a hole and revealed the floor below. Luxus had eyes only for the person on the other side of the hole – Mirajane, on her knees with her eyes closed, looking only slightly bruised and burned but otherwise fine – and immense relief flooded him.

"Impressive magic, Luxus-chan," Ivan commented, standing straight and unharmed.

Mirajane stood, and she smiled endearingly at Luxus. "Thank you," she said sincerely.

He crossed his arms. "You better thank me for saving your life, weakling," he said dismissively. Had anyone ever thanked him like that before…?

Mirajane only smiled again, knowing the full effect those two simple words had on him.

Visitor, who was now free from the flock of ravens, was wounded but not yet out of the fight. Evergreen managed to ward off the raven that was tailing her, but it had magic of its own. It swerved back to the shoulder of its master as the battle came to a standstill again. Luxus, Mirajane, Evergreen, and Visitor surrounded Ivan on all sides, ready to face him together.

"Oh, Gazille-chan, how nice of you to show up," said Ivan to the doorway. Four heads turned to regard Gazille. Luxus grit his teeth – his arrival would make things much more difficult. To his surprise, Mirajane and the other Fairy Tail mages turned back to fight Ivan, as if expecting the Iron Dragon Slayer to be on their side.

"Look out!" Luxus called to them. "Gazille is on his side! He's been in Raven Tail for years!"

"No, Luxus. He's just a spy," Mirajane told him. Luxus didn't buy it for a second, and was totally unsurprised to see Gazille extend a metal arm and punch the weakened Visitor in the face, completely knocking him out. Mirajane's eyes widened in shock as she turned to have both Gazille and Ivan in her eyesight – unfortunately for her, they were on either side of the girl. "Gazille! What are you doing?"

Evergreen's wings fluttered with anger. "I never trusted him!"

Gazille, his face expressionless, settled into a fighting stance.

* * *

Natsu's and Eligor's fight was interrupted by a beam of light firing at them through the ceiling. The two mages made it out of the way in time, but Natsu's face lit up when he recognized the magic. "That's lightning! That was Luxus!"

Eligor, finally beginning to tire out, swung his scythe harshly. "Don't you dare think about leaving this fight. I'm going to kill you before you try anything, fly!"

"Fine, then! If I need to finish you before I start my rematch with Luxus, that's fine with me!" Natsu, who was also slightly wounded, flared to life as he charged toward his enemy. "This is it! One final blow to decide the match!"

"That's fine with me!" Eligor responded, being propelled forward by wind. Air began to gather and spiral in his palm as he was about to clash with Natsu, while fire wreathed the Salamander's fist. They both focused as much magical power as they could into their fists, and they clashed.

When their fists touched, the density of the magic gathered exploded outward, throwing both mages to opposite sides of the entrance chamber. The explosion knocked down more rubble from the ceiling, battering them both. When the dust finally cleared, Natsu was the last man standing, his face bloody, but with a look of dark triumph. Eligor managed to erect his wind armor to protect himself from the falling rubble, but he was still on the ground, bloodied and beaten.

"You've won, Salamander," he said simply, staring up at the remains of the ceiling. "You frustrating fly."

"Sorry, Eligor," Natsu said sheepishly. "But I need to help my friends." On the last dredges of his magic energy, fire gathered around his feet and enabled him to fly up through the whole in the ceiling, following the blast of lightning to where he hoped to find Luxus.

Eligor lay where he was for several more minutes, but he forced himself into a standing position. He glanced up to where Natsu flew, and shook his head. "That fly is really something," he muttered to himself. He hefted his scythe onto his wounded back and walked away from the Raven Tail guild, putting it behind him forever. The Shinigami vowed to beat the Salamander one day. And to do that, he needed to get stronger.

* * *

Gazille managed to get to Ivan's side in the confusion from the hundreds of flying ravens causing chaos in the remains of the laboratory chamber. No one could see very much, other than the sea of black swarming in their view. He heard the cracks of lightning each time Luxus tried to blast them away, and he knew that Mirajane had conjured water to protect herself and strike back. Ivan was the only one he could see, standing with him in a bubble of relative peace, surrounded by the ravens he had conjured.

"You've done well, Gazille-chan," Ivan said to him. The Iron Dragon Slayer simply nodded his head.

When the ravens cleared so Ivan could see the fruits of his labor, he was not disappointed. Luxus, Mirajane, and Evergreen were all wounded more than ever, damaged by puncture wounds and slashes all over their bodies. Out of everyone, only Ivan, Gazille, and the unconscious Visitor hadn't received any new damage.

"How could you, Gazille?" Mirajane asked him through teary eyes. Suddenly, they all heard the sound of a roar of flames as Natsu emerged from the hole in the floor that Luxus had created, fire streaming from his feet and ready for battle. He, too, looked a little worse for wear, but as enduring as ever. Mirajane's face lit up with hope. "Natsu!"

"Ivan!" Natsu shouted at the man. "I heard what you've been doing to Luxus, and you're gonna pay!" He was angry, and an angry Natsu was never a good thing. The Fire mage glanced around at his allies and was surprised to see even a wounded Luxus, but Ivan seemed to have no damage done to him. "What kind of monster are you?" he bellowed. "What kind of man would do this to his own _son_? Doesn't family mean anything to you?!"

"No," Ivan said flatly, totally unperturbed by Natsu's impending rage. "If they are weak, if they go against me, then they deserve to be killed, no matter who they are. Family?" He scoffed. "Family means nothing. I killed my own father because he dared to rise against me."

Mirajane cupped her hands to her mouth, glancing wide-eyed at Gazille. The Metal mage even took a step back from Ivan. The two S-Class mages knew this ever since it happened, but Natsu was ignorant…

"IT WAS YOU!!" Natsu roared with fury, fire covering his whole body. Red scales started to cover his skin more than ever before as his magical energy washed over everyone around him, making Evergreen recoil and Ivan draw back in surprise. A flock of ravens descended on him, but they burned to nothing almost immediately. Natsu's hands started to lengthen and harden, becoming sharper and deadlier, nearly resembling claws…

Luxus, too, was trembling with barely controlled rage. "You… killed Gramps?" Gazille extended one arm forward, turning his fist into a metal rod. Ivan viewed Gazille's action as preparing to defend him from the coming onslaught, but Luxus viewed it completely differently. Gazille smirked as Luxus thrust a hand forward, shooting a crack of lightning in the direction of Natsu or Mirajane, but it veered to the left suddenly, caught by the magnetic pull of Gazille's metal rod. The lightning surged right toward Ivan, who was directly in the path of the lightning on its way to Gazille…

And the two Dragon Slayers succeeded in scoring their first hit against Ivan, who was blasted nearly into Gazille by the attack. The Metal Dragon Slayer dodged his body as it crackled and twitched, and the man rose with a look of fury on his face that rivaled Natsu's or Luxus'. He glared fiercely at Gazille, who simply extended his arms to either side of him.

"Gazille… You…"

"Sorry, Master," he said. "I've been Makarov's man ever since the beginning." He settled into a fighting stance, this time against Ivan. "And I've been working to take your guild down from the inside, eliminating your members without you knowing, restricting communication with the Balam Alliance as much as possible, and gathering information for Fairy Tail. They're my true family… And since you helped to kill so many in my family, I'm going to kill you." Iron scales began forming up and down his arms and face.

Luxus entered his own Dragon Slayer mode, yellow scales forming over his skin as lightning crackled all around his body. Evergreen flew high into the air, readying herself to bombard the Dark Guild master with her own magic.

"I guess I was wrong about you, Gazille," she said with a smirk.

Mirajane's anger bubbled to the surface, kept down ever since Makarov's death… Now it struggled to be released. And she murmured four words to herself. "Take Over: Satan Soul." The S-Class mage revealed her full power and reason for her Demon title as her body took on the form of exactly that, forming a thick, monstrous tail and demon wings, her silver hair becoming wild and her clothes lowering down to the bare essentials. Her arms crackled with magic when her transformation finished.

Ivan, with wide eyes, looked over each of his foes, from Mirajane, to Natsu, to Evergreen, to Luxus, and to Gazille, unable to comprehend how everything turned around on him. He shouted one of his strongest spells. "Cry of the Ravens!" At least a hundred ravens were conjured from paper and floated all around the chamber, each releasing a horrifying screech that shook each of the mages to their very cores, despite the sheer amount of power they were each releasing. Evergreen crashed to the ground, trying feebly to cover her ears. Mirajane, in her demonic form, flew towards Ivan, shooting magical energy out of her palm, but several ravens converged around him and absorbed the blow. Instead of erupting into pieces of paper like they usually did, the ravens withstood the magic attack and continued screeching. The demon writhed, curling up into a ball as the wings fought to keep her in the air.

Fire, lightning, and shards of sharp metal were fired at Ivan in an attempt to make the attack stop, but Ivan's largest raven – the only true, living bird – flew in front of him. Its eyes glowed an otherworldly green, shooting off an emerald beam of light. It clashed with the combined powers of Natsu, Luxus, and Gazille, but conquered it and destroyed their attacks in a magical explosion, ripping away the last of the battered floor and making them all collapse into the remains of the entrance hall down below.

Mirajane managed to catch the unconscious forms of Visitor and Evergreen before they crashed against the ground and were crushed in the rubble, setting them off safely to the side. Once everything settled down, it was unnervingly quiet.

Once downstairs, the remaining members of Raven Tail gathered around the battle, wielding a variety of weapons and smirking menacingly at the members of Fairy Tail and Luxus. There were still so many of them around… Mirajane, in her demon form, didn't know if they'd be able to win this battle, even if the four of them were fighting at their best.

Ivan, apparently, realized this too, but the calm coldness was lost in his eyes. Now he seemed frantic and crazed. "You've lost, Fairy Tail! There is no way you can win now! You will die, just like your dear Master Makarov!" The many members of Raven Tail fired their numerous magics at their measly four opponents, but Mirajane took it upon herself to deal with them. She fired beams of magic at the crowd of them, incinerating many, but several were able to block the brunt of her attack and continue fighting.

Natsu and Gazille converged on Ivan together, striking any part of him that they could reach, but the ravens kept flying at their eyes and interrupting their attacks. Luxus, however, stood in the center of the chamber. A bright light was shining between his palms, releasing a tremendous amount of magical energy.

Mirajane recognized the spell with startling clarity.

"What are you doing?!" Ivan shouted at his son, doing everything he could to block the attacks of Natsu and Gazille.

"I'm casting the spell that harms only my enemies," he responded, smirking. "My trump card!" He pushed his palms together and shouted.

"Fairy Law!"

Mirajane, Natsu, Gazille, and everyone else was forced to shield their eyes from the piercing white light, which expanded for at least a mile in every direction. The holy power obliterated every enemy to Luxus, fueled by his emotions, reaching to his heart and revealing the truth of his magic and his feelings. The light seemed to even purify a part of him along with everything else.

He put everything into that final attack -- all his emotions, his feelings, his regrets, his thoughts, his hopes, his dreams. Most of these were found in his memories of his grandfather. He forced as much power as he could into the attack, driven by the need to protect the people he had come to realize he cared about. In the startling whiteness, which he stared into unflinchingly, he found that everything was quiet, peaceful, and serene. He realized he was crying.

When the light finally died down, and the ones still standing were able to uncover their eyes, they saw the form of Ivan, frozen in his defeat, all color gone from him. He finally toppled, along with the horde of Raven Tail members that previously surrounded the group of Fairy Tail mages.

Mirajane, back in her human form, smiled as tears came to her eyes again, knowing that their beloved Master Makarov was avenged. Luxus fell to his knees in tiredness, exhaling a breath of relief. He was about to fall over in exhaustion, but Mirajane was at his side and caught him just in time, cupping his face with her hand. "Luxus…" she said compassionately. "Thank you. You saved us all."

Natsu clenched his fist and made a face. "I could've done it!" he shouted in protest, but Mirajane smiled at him anyway, knowing he was alright. Gazille crossed his arms.

"Now that that's over, let's go home," Gazille said simply.

Luxus leaned his head on Mirajane's shoulder, closing his eyes. Both of them were on their knees as she put her arms around his neck, whispering in his ear. "You really… Gave it your all, didn't you?" she asked softly.

"I guess I do care about you weaklings after all," he replied quietly, the faintest hint of a smirk on his lips. She put his arm around her shoulder and helped Luxus stand.

"Natsu, Gazille, help Evergreen and Visitor," she told them. She stared up into the opaque blue sky with a happy outlook. Even the forest surrounding the guild castle didn't seem so dark anymore.

Visitor sat up and rubbed his nearly concussed head as Natsu approached him, grumbling. "Was that just… Fairy Law?" he asked. Natsu nodded, if a little grumpily. Looking around him, the dancer noticed Gazille. "Hey, what's he doing? He turned against us!"

"He's on our side, Visitor," Mirajane calmly told him. Gazille glared at him.

"But he attacked me!" Visitor protested. "Why did he do that if he's on our side, huh?"

"Er…" Mirajane turned her head to Gazille for confirmation. "Why did you do that, anyway?"

"He was weak and wounded, so I simply knocked him out of the battle so he wouldn't get hurt even more," Gazille confessed. He looked squarely at Visitor. "I did it out of consideration for you. And it worked, because Ivan thought I was on his side…"

"I could have still fought!" Visitor yelled at him.

"Stop your yelling," Luxus grumbled.

Natsu helped Evergreen stand as she focused back into consciousness. "Ugh… It's over?"

They all nodded, grinning.

* * *

"Well… I didn't expect that outcome to the mission," Erza admitted to them once they returned to the guild and debriefed her and Lluvia. No one seemed to object to Luxus' arrival in the guild building. Instead, several of them drew away from him. Erza did not let him out of her sight, but it was hard for him to do much, either way. Gray, Lucy, and Happy were also there, as well as Wendy, who tended to the wounds from the battle. "Good job, you five. You've done an excellent thing for the guild." She smiled genuinely at them, but Mirajane shook her head.

"We don't deserve all of the praise," the Transformation mage said. "Thank Luxus."

Before Erza could open her mouth, Luxus held up a hand. "Wait, don't bother." Erza's eyes widened, but she put her hands on her hips, hearing him out. "I learned a lot during my two years at Raven Tail," Luxus said. "Mainly that I had it a lot better when I was here than when I was there."

"What are you saying?" Lluvia asked him, interested.

"I'm saying that I've come to… appreciate… the way things are here." From his seated position, he grinned. Mirajane was at his side, encouraging him to say more. "I saw the way they all fought for me. I saw the way they worried for each other. I've finally seen… How close the members of this guild are to each other. What I'm trying to say, is… I want to join Fairy Tail again." He looked at Erza resolutely.

"I say let him!" Natsu immediately shouted, pumping a fist into the air. "That way we can have a rematch!" Lucy, at his side, immediately swatted him in the back of the head for interrupting, agitating his wounds. "Ow!"

Mirajane, with her head bandaged, smiled at Erza. "I agree with Natsu. I think that Luxus deserves to be back with us."

"Gazille, Lluvia?" Erza asked the other S-Class mages.

"What the hell, why not?" Gazille said with a smirk. "He's another Dragon Slayer," he said while ruffling Wendy's hair. The young girl giggled.

"Lluvia thinks it would be good for him to join us again!" the Water mage piped up. All eyes settled on Erza.

"Makarov excommunicated you because you failed to see what kept this guild close and what kept us strong. You failed to see the difference between strength and character and the true value of your comrades." Erza lowered her eyes, and then raised them to look straight at Luxus. "Now, I am glad to see that this has changed. Your grandfather would be proud to have you back with us."

Luxus lowered his eyes and smiled with relief as Natsu whooped and cheered and some of the others grinned. Mirajane hugged him tightly and Luxus put his uninjured arm around her, accepting the gesture.

Luxus could have sworn he saw his grandfather in the crowd of Fairy Tail mages, holding up a single forefinger and thumb – the private signal that they shared.

_I'll always be watching you._

* * *

Gérard glared at Urtear as the two stood before Master Hades of Grimoire Heart, but his former partner coolly disregarded him. The lieutenant of Hades, Kage, stood at his right side.

"Gérard," Hades beckoned in his gravelly voice, his face hidden under his helm of darkness. "Are you ready to harness the power of Nirvana?"

The Heavenly Mage settled into a deep bow before his newest Master. "Yes."

Urtear rolled her eyes. "I don't see why he gets to do it," she drawled. "He's an easily manipulated puppet."

"Be quiet, you traitor," Gérard said scathingly. Urtear giggled to herself. She was proud of the fact that she managed to fool him into thinking she was Zeref for years, but Gérard, apparently, didn't see the humor in it.

"It is because he has Master Zeref inside of him for real this time," Hades coldly informed her, silencing them both. "He is the only one fit to wield the power of Nirvana to awaken Dark Priest Zeref."

"I doubt that," Urtear muttered under her breath.

"Now go, all of you," Hades said, banishing them. His three underlings stood and left his chamber. Urtear rolled her teal orb up and down her arms.

"Stop that, it's annoying," Gérard snapped at her. Urtear giggled and kept doing it.

"I bet I'll beat you to Nirvana," she challenged, smiling teasingly. He glared.

"Over my dead body."

"That can be arranged," Urtear bit back.

"Both of you, stop acting like children," Kage ordered them, his tall, slim form becoming suddenly imposing as the shadows seemed to darken. Urtear crossed her arms over her teal orb as Gérard swept away in his long overcoat.

"But it's so much _fun_…" Urtear said, looking at Gérard's retreating back with a dark smirk.

* * *

**Author's Notes: I worked hard on this chapter, so I hope you all liked it. Luxus may have seemed a bit OoC, so I'm sorry about that. I tried to make him as realistic as possible. Urtear may also seem OoC, but I like her character a lot and it's fun to play with her – and she's pretty much just teasing Gérard, though she's not any less dangerous.**

**Well, that's the end of the Raven Tail arc. Please review!**


	7. The History of Fairy Tail

**Author's Notes: **Ouch, only a single review last chapter? That was such a big chapter, too… To that one reviewer, thanks!

_**Tales of the Fairies**_

**Chapter 7: The History of Fairy Tail**

"Oh, Gazille! Thank you! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Lucy exclaimed happily, upon seeing the golden Zodiac key the Metal mage procured. "How the heck did you manage to find this? I haven't found a single Zodiac key since Gemini and Aries!"

Gazille grinned. "It was in the Raven Tail coffers, just sitting there gathering dust."

Lucy smiled widely and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Thanks again!"

Natsu, on the other side of the room, fumed upon seeing this. A grumpy, bandaged Luxus was at his side. The two were sitting at Mirajane's bar.

"What are you two so grouchy about?" Mirajane asked them teasingly, polishing a glass.

"Nothing," Natsu mumbled, crossing his arms.

"They all still shudder in fear when they see me," Luxus muttered, gesturing forcefully to the other guild members sitting around. Quite a few, like Reedus, flinched. "I thought they all got stronger. Why do they still act all weak?"

Gray plopped down on his other side, ordering a drink. "It's because you try to act like a tough guy all the time."

Mirajane silently threatened to throw one of the glasses at his head, which silenced him effectively. Wearing kindness again, she turned to Luxus. "The scars from the last Fantasia Parade still linger. They haven't forgotten what you did that day. Just be friendly."

They were interrupted from further conversation when Lucy shouted out a magic incantation. "Open!! Key to the Scorpion, Scorpio!" A large figure appeared in a puff of smoke, and when the smoke cleared, a vaguely humanoid scorpion-man appeared, glaring haughtily at Lucy. He placed his large claws on his shelled hips, standing upright but with moving, spindly legs on his stomach, in addition to human legs. He had a long scorpion tail coming from his rear end. He was also entirely red.

"Eww, it's some gross lobster!" Lucy cried, blanching.

"I'll have you know that I am no lobster! I am the Great Scorpio, most fearsome of Stellar Spirits! I could crush the strongest man here in my claws! I could poison the most resilient mage! I could impale the most – "

"Okay, enough, enough!" Lucy interrupted, rolling her eyes. "I'll summon you on Sundays, Mondays, and Fridays, is that alright? Okay! Bye!" And then he vanished, listing his heroic accomplishments as he went. "Sometimes I get the absolute worst Stellar Spirits…" she mumbled, hanging her arms. As she clipped her new Zodiac key to her necklace, she frowned. "Hmm… This necklace is getting really big and cumbersome. It's getting really hard to keep track of all of these keys!"

"Why don't you put them back on your hip, like you used to?" Mirajane suggested helpfully.

"I kept losing them that way," she replied.

"Then you should Ex-Quip them," suggested another person. Lucy spun to the source of the voice.

"That's a great idea, Visca!" she said cheerfully. "Could you teach me?" The magic sniper was so skilled at Ex-Quipping her guns, that she was second only to Erza the Titania herself.

The western mage tipped her hat and gave Lucy a smile. "I think I could."

Natsu watched the two girls as Visca began teaching Lucy about her area of magic, and then spotted Wendy playing with Charle and Happy, who all darted into the guild's main foyer at once.

"Natsu! Mira-chan! Gray!" Happy shouted, bowling into the fire mage.

"Whoa!" Natsu groaned, holding his wounded areas. "Watch it…"

"There's some old woman coming," Wendy informed them.

"And she's scaring everyone away from her," Charle commented wryly, perched on Wendy's shoulder in her cat form.

"Old lady…?" Gray asked, trailing off. His eyes suddenly widened. "Oh, no…"

"Stop ogling me and make yourselves useful, you stupid humans!" The old woman's voice announced her arrival as she stepped into the main guild building.

"Ugh, not that crotchety old hag," Natsu moaned. Even Mirajane and Luxus seemed on edge.

"Who're you calling old?" the woman croaked at him. "Where's Makarov? I need to see him." She held a gnarled staff between her equally gnarled hands, ready to brandish it at anyone who so much as looked at her the wrong way.

Wendy cringed. "This lady is scary…"

Erza rushed downstairs, alert and holding a sword forward, Lluvia in a half-liquid form at her side. Upon seeing the old woman, Erza lowered her weapon. "Oh, it's just you." The sword vanished, and to everyone's surprise, Erza bowed. "Welcome to our guild, Polyushko-san."

"I remember her," Visca and Arzak said at once, terrified. Levi nodded along with them.

"I've heard of her," Lucy commented, touching a finger to her lips. "Wasn't she the one who healed Master Makarov after his fight with Phantom Guild?"

"She healed Master again during the whole Fantasia Festival fiasco," Levi added, glancing at Luxus.

"Yes, she is," said Erza. "And she also replaced my bad eye with a fake, magical one. I owe this woman a lot. What can we do for you?"

"I want to see Makarov," Polyushko said, slamming her wooden staff against the ground. "What's that old codger been up to?"

"I'm sorry," Erza said, lowering her eyes. "Master Makarov passed away."

Polyushko's wizened features softened and her staff became lax in her grip, until she nudged Erza's chin with it. "Well, chin up. He is gone, and we must move on. I have a lot of things to tell you, Master Erza."

The Titania's eyes widened. "Oh, no, I'm not a Master. Our guild is led by the Fairy Council composed of our S-Class mages."

"Could' a fooled me." The old healer leaned heavily on her staff. "So, is the other crazy old geezer still around?"

"Who?" Lluvia asked.

"Gildartz, of course!"

"No, we haven't seen nor heard from him in years. We have heard _of_ him though, and he is still alive. What he is doing, we do not know," Erza explained. "Why have you come, Polyushko-san? Certainly not to reminisce of old times."

"No, no," the reclusive old woman assured her. "Though, it is upsetting that Makarov and Gildartz are not here. Gildartz would have loved to hear me say that, the old bat."

"Why did you need them?" Gazille asked her, showing quite a bit of unnerving respect to the old woman.

"Makarov, Gildartz, and I were the ones to create this guild. I even designed the symbol!" Polyushko exclaimed.

"No way!" Macau shouted. "I've been here since I was a kid, and I don't remember you at all."

"We were also the strongest team in our younger days," Polyushko reminisced. "I was S-Class myself!"

"I bet I could beat her in a fight," Natsu grumbled, while Luxus seemed to be in shock.

"Why did you leave the guild?" Erza questioned.

"The three of us had a falling out many years ago," she said somberly. "Come, I would like to speak privately to this so-called Fairy Council of yours."

Mirajane placed the glass she was cleaning on the counter and followed them upstairs wordlessly, Luxus trailing right behind her. Gazille, Lluvia, and Erza climbed the ladder, while Polyushko simply stared at it with annoyance. "Really, a ladder? What has this guild come to?" And without another word, she pounded her staff against the floor three times, and started to magically rise into the air.

"Hey, why is Luxus S-Class again?" Natsu complained.

"We could use all of the S-Class mages we can get," Lucy informed him. "And we know he's worthy of the title, since Master made him one."

"But Luxus has changed," Gray pointed out. "Does he still deserve that position?"

"Erza seems to think so," Lucy commented. "But she's keeping an eye on him nonetheless."

"How do you know all this?" Gray asked her in surprise.

Lucy grinned mischievously. "Just because I'm not up in the Fairy Council doesn't mean I don't know what's going on. Both Erza and Lluvia tell me what happens up there!"

Happy gasped, putting two paws to his mouth. "That's so not fair!" Lucy, Wendy, and Charle laughed together at the boys' bewilderment.

* * *

Once they were on the upper level, the various members of the Fairy Council took places all around the room. They all wore serious faces now.

"Tell me who killed Makarov," Polyushko said solemnly.

"Ivan of Raven Tail," Luxus told her immediately. "But we defeated him ourselves."

Polyushko took this with a slow nod, knowing full well who Ivan was in relation to her old friend. "I see."

"What do you want here?" Gazille asked gruffly, leaning against the wall. "You only showed yourself to us in the past when we asked your permission to move into the forest, and when our critically wounded members needed healing."

"I've come to rejoin Fairy Tail," Polyushko stated. There were various exclamations of surprise at this.

"But why?" Mirajane asked.

"Despite my reclusive lifestyle, I am quite learned in the worldly affairs at the moment," Polyushko replied. "The situation has become graver than it ever has been, and I know you need all the help you can get. I may not care for humans, but I have always found the members of Fairy Tail an exceptional bunch." Erza took this compliment in stride, knowing that this was the best kind of praise they'd get from this old woman. "And I do care for the fate of the world."

"Why don't you like humans?" Lluvia asked curiously.

"It is the nature of humans to consume, and consume, and consume, and waste anything that is left. They harm nature with their magic and technology. I have witnessed that the inherent evil of humans always wins out over the will to do good. The death of Makarov is a prime example of this. What kind of man slays his own father?" Polyushko explained. "Those are my less personal reasons."

"So… You're going to help us?" Erza questioned. Polyushko nodded, and Mirajane immediately slid forward with her member stamp in hand.

"No need," Polyushko said, stopping the transformation mage, who fell with a despondent sigh. "Back in my day, the Fairy Tail member stamp was a permanent tattoo." And she removed her cape, exposing her old lady shoulders and causing Gazille and Luxus to blanch and turn away, thinking she'd reveal more. "Anyway, one member I definitely remember is Mistgun, who had a fondness for apples. Where is he?"

Erza lowered her eyes. "I do not know. He shows up occasionally, though, unlike Gildartz."

"Hmm… I do not know where Mistgun might be, but Gildartz is incredibly easy to find," Polyushko affirmed. The whole Fairy Council's eyes widened.

"We gave up hope of finding him!" Lluvia exclaimed.

"Nonsense. You just didn't know where to look, or who to look for. Have any of you _ever_ seen him in your lives?" Polyushko posed.

Only Luxus gave a sure answer. "I did. Once. Back when I was a kid."

"I may have, but I barely remember," Erza said unsurely. "I only remember an incredibly tall man with a tattered cape and long, wild hair."

"Well, we need him now. And I will help you find him," the old healer declared. "Assemble for me a team of your most proficient trackers and we will leave at once."

* * *

"What?! You want _me_ to go?"

"Yes, Lucy," Erza said tiredly, rubbing her forehead. "I would like you to report everything to me after the mission is complete. You will help Polyushko-san lead the team, since she doesn't know any of our guild members personally like you do."

"Oh, I guess it isn't a big deal, then," Lucy acquiesced. "Besides, I'll finally be able to meet Gildartz and see what all the fuss is about!"

"I don't know why you'd be so excited about that," Polyushko said to her, causing Lucy to raise an eyebrow in confusion, but the old woman didn't elaborate further. "So, Erza, who's this rabble you've gathered for this mission?" she asked, gesturing to the mages in front of her, who looked perturbed about being addressed that way.

"This is Lucy Heartphilia, a Stellar Spirit mage," Erza introduced her. Lucy gave a timid wave. "The woman in the bikini top is Kana Alberona, a practitioner of card magic and an excellent tracker. The boy is Arzak Cornell, a gun mage. The last girl is Miki Chickentiger, and her bird, Pii-chan."

"Pii-chan says hi!" the bird chirped, perched on the girl's artificial horns. Miki clenched her gloved hands and pointed a fist at Polyushko.

"Don't get on my bad side, you old bat," she said rudely. Kana laughed out loud, a drunken blush painting her cheeks. Arzak rolled his eyes.

"Very well," Polyushko answered, slightly bemused.

"Why can't I go? I wanna see Gildartz too!" Natsu said with a grin.

The Stellar Spirit mage grabbed her forehead. "Sorry, Natsu, but it isn't my choice."

"Well, you're co-leading the team, aren't you? Just let me in!"

"Ugh, it isn't that simple!"

Lucy said her goodbyes to Natsu, Happy, Gray, and Erza, while Arzak shared an emotional farewell with Visca, and minutes later, they were on their way to search for Gildartz.

"Arzak," Lucy called to the gunner, gaining his attention and pulling him from his blank stare. Visca had kissed him on the cheek.

"U-uh, what is it, Lucy?" he stammered.

Lucy sighed, but was unafraid of saying what was on her mind, since she was friendly with the gunner. "Why don't you tell Visca how you feel?"

He turned white. "What do you mean?"

Miki laughed loudly. "Haha! He's a lovesick baby!" Pii-chan chirped in agreement on her head, fluttering his tiny wings.

"Oh, being in love…" Kana hiccupped, thinking back to one of her own experiences. No doubt, she thought of Macau.

"It's so obvious, Arzak!" Lucy shouted at her friend. "You're in love with her, and she loves you back! I just know it!" While he was in a stunned silence, Lucy swooned. "Oh, what a romantic story! I've got an idea for my book sequel! I wish I could have a love story like that…"

Polyushko chuckled. "Young love. Oh, I miss those days."

"Whaaaat, were you in love with Gildaaaartz or something?" Kana slurred.

"No!" she snapped. "Gildartz is an idiot."

"And yet you're leading a search for him," Kana pointed out. "Maybe Makarov was more your type!"

"What should I do, Lucy?" Arzak asked. She had an inkling he'd be on his hands and knees in front of her if they weren't walking.

"Tell her how you feel, by sending flowers or chocolates to her or something," Lucy said dreamily. "Let her know you're interested, without – "

"Just go right out and say it!" Miki yelled boisterously, interrupting Lucy. "That's how I go about things! Don't go about doing prissy things like that. Girls like a real, strong, sure man!" she said roughly, clenching a fist.

"I'm sure you've attracted so many men with that attitude," Lucy said wryly, slightly peeved by the girl. She honestly didn't have that many interactions with Miki, though she knew how Miki acted. Witnessing it firsthand, she was kind of annoyed.

Miki was about to retort angrily when they stepped to the outskirts of the forest around Magnolia Town, and Polyushko stopped. "Okay, can any of you follow where Gildartz would be?" the old woman asked.

"I thought you knew where he was," Lucy said, her shoulders sagging.

"He could be in any number of places," she replied. Kanna, with a barrel of ale under her arm, pulled a single red card from her deck. She let it go, and it floated in front of her, if a little crookedly. Lucy guessed it was because she wasn't sober.

"Uh… That's the King! No, the Jack. No, that's the Queen of Hearts! Wait, wrong deck. These are the Lovers." Kana said after several tries. "Sorry, it's a little blurry."

"So, what does that mean?" Arzak asked.

"Gildartz is surrounded by many women!" Kana exclaimed. "And he has a lustful attraction to each of them. Also, the Hermit symbolizes that he's really alone on the inside, despite all the people he's with."

"Are you sure that's not Arzak's current fortune?" Miki said, with a catlike grin at the gunner. Currently, he was the only male in their travel party. What little color in his face drained at her statement, and he glared.

"Uh, maybe."

"And didn't you pull that card randomly from the deck?" Lucy asked in exasperation. She had never seen Kana's magic cards in action before.

"I had already assumed that," Polyushko said distastefully, referring to the fortune. "Okay, can you give me any more detailed information?"

Kana drew another card with a dramatic flourish, though her eyes were blank and slightly bloodshot. "The lightning-struck Tower. Tragedy will come to him soon. Paired with the Death. Not a good sign. On the most optimistic side, it means deep change will come to him soon. But it is an ill omen."

"That doesn't reveal anything of his location!" Lucy shouted. "And you're crazy! We don't want his fortune!"

"These are _magic_ cards, silly, of course they will," Kana said drunkenly. She drew another. "The Fool! He looks stupid, but there's more to him than meets the eye."

"Well, this is pointless," Polyushko mumbled. "What about you two?" she asked Arzak and Miki.

"Wait!" Kana interrupted in her drunken stupor. "There are more. The Magician in the Reversed position. It means he has taken action, but it might come back to bite him. And he isn't very focused on what he's doing."

"I can only track things based on footprints and the like. You know, the non-magical way," Arzak said with a shrug, answering Polyushko and ignoring Kana. "So we'd need to be much closer for that to work."

"Pii-chan?" Miki asked her bird, her eyes rolling up to look at the top of her head. "You know what to do!"

"Got it, Miki!" the tiny, magical bird replied, flapping his miniature wings and fluttering away.

"The Moon!" Kana declared. "Oh, wait, I'm thinking about Mistgun. This is his. He's an illusion, or he is in one? And he's displeased, or afraid, or doubtful. I don't remember…"

"Okay, Kana, that's enough!" Lucy silenced her.

This would be a _long_ trip…

* * *

Several hours later, they were still walking because Polyushko refused to take the train, referring it as a "death trap that mucked up nature." So they were forced to walk, and it got extremely boring and irritating, especially with Miki. More than once, Lucy and Arzak had to separate the hotheaded girl from a drunken Kanna. Fortunately, the card mage sobered up eventually.

Walking ahead to Polyushko's side, Lucy questioned the old, experienced mage. "So... What was Fairy Tail like back in your day? How did you meet Makarov and Gildartz?"

"The three of us came from another mage guild, but Makarov had dreams in his head ever since he was a child. He ended up convincing the two of us to make a new guild with him, so we did. It was as simple as that. We were a small guild for a very long time."

"Why'd you end up leaving?" Lucy asked curiously.

Polyushko sighed. "It is a long and complicated story. The three of us wanted the guild to go into three different directions."

"What do you mean?"

"Gildartz had a few run-ins with the law - stupid, harmless things - and the Magic Council of the time detested us and restricted the fledgling guild as much as they could. Makarov often bent the restrictions placed upon us and sometimes outright broke their rules. At one point, we feared attack by the Magic Council," the old woman said solemnly. "Some feared that we would become a Dark Guild."

"What? _Fairy Tail_ a Dark Guild?" Lucy asked incredulously.

Polyushko gave a small smile. "Makarov and Gildartz had a bit of a rebellious streak in them."

Lucy crinkled her brow, a little bit of sadness in her eyes. "So why did you end up leaving?"

"We had a little bit of a falling out," Polyushko said after a few moments, hesitant to speak further. Lucy picked up on this.

"Nevermind! I won't pester you about it!" she vowed, holding up one hand. "So, you were S-Class? Tell me about your magic! Isn't healing considered a Lost Magic? How do you do it?" she eagerly questioned. Polyushko laughed, thankful of the change of subject.

"I use Nature Magic," the woman said. "Life energy is contained in the trees, the grass, animals, the air - it's everywhere. I am able to contain that power and use it as my magic."

"Wow, that's so cool," Lucy beamed.

"But it isn't considered Lost Magic. The only Lost kind of healing is the one your friend the Sky Sorceress uses," Polyushko said.

"Wendy?"

"Yes," she answered with a nod. "I believe you know Ichiya Wanderlei Kotobuki?"

Lucy blanched. "Yes, I remember that perv."

"He uses his perfume magic to heal, so healing alone isn't a Lost art. There are many types of healers. I can only speed along the natural healing process and restore magical exhaustion. Ichiya's magic lets him heal physical exhaustion and minor wounds. Your friend Wendy is the only true healer alive."

Lucy hummed. "I didn't know that. So how do you know that weirdo Ichiya anyway?"

"I had the misfortune of teaching him," Polyushko admitted, to which Lucy laughed. "I am disappointed to learn that he hasn't changed a bit."

"Pii-chan's back!" Miki called out loudly, pointing to the sky. A tiny, fluttering bird soared back to its owner, landing in her arms. "So did you find out anything?"

"Yes, yes, I did!" the little bird chirped triumphantly. "He's in the town of Arcana, not too far from here!"

"Arcana Town? That's such a seedy place," Kanna commented. "How does your bird know he's there, anyway? He's never even seen Gildartz before!"

"Pii-chan happens to be a _magical_ bird!" the little bird argued. Miki glared at the card mage.

"Arcana..." Arzak mused. "A lot of Dark Guilds are said to be there."

Lucy looked disgusted. "It's also known for the women and the clubs."

"He's there," Polyushko said with absolute sureness. "Let's go. Miki, lead the way."

* * *

"I don't like the feel of this place," Lucy said, clearly uncomfortable, watching all the people leer at her from dark alleyways.

"DON'T YOU STARE AT ME, YOU STUPID LECH!" Miki roared at the people, pouncing into the alleys and beating them up with her fists. Nobody looked at them the same way again.

"Now I know why she's called the Demon Princess," Lucy mumbled.

"This isn't a safe place to be at night," Kanna told them - she alone seemed most at ease here, as if openly inviting anyone to take a look at her scantily clad body. "Let's find the old geezer and get out of here."

"Pii-chan said he was at a club," Arzak said. "Ah, here we go - _Puff the Magic Dragon_. That's a strange name."

Polyushko rolled her eyes as they went inside, being immediately greeted by loud music - courtesy of a mage band playing in the corner - and a huge amount of people.

"I should have dressed better!" Lucy cried, upon seeing all the dancing people.

"How are we supposed to find him?" Kanna shouted over the din, before being whisked away by a grinning man. She danced with him for a moment, before kicking him as hard as she could, sending him flying into another crowd of people. Without another word, she appeared back at her team's side.

Polyushko, looking painfully out of place, became suddenly still as she glared with all her might at a corner of the room. Lucy followed her gaze and spotted an old man with a tattered brown cape, slicked back silver hair which spiked up, and heavy boots perched up on the table in front of him. There were no less than six incredibly _loose_ looking women around him. All seven were holding drinks in their hands. Upon seeing Polyushko, his eyes widened in fear and he dropped his drink.

"Gildartz!" the old woman shouted. The old man got up and ran out a back door of the club. The mages of Fairy Tail were about to follow when the man that tried to dance with Kanna and several others barred their path.

"You ain't going anywhere, ladies," the man in the lead said, cracking his knuckles. Lucy unfurled her whip and grinned, suddenly eager to hit something.

"Bring it on!" Miki yelled boisterously.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Heh, a bit of a cliffhanger. This chapter reveals several different plot points, all of which will be elaborated on further in the next chapter. Hope you all liked it! And since only one person reviewed last chapter, is it too much to ask for a little more...? I don't beg for reviews often :/

So yeah. Tell me what you think! :)


	8. Gildartz

**Author's Notes: Thanks to those who reviewed last chapter! To the anonymous **Random Reviewer**, yes, Mist Gun will appear in this story later, and I'll offer my own explanation about his weird similarity to Gérard.**

**Oh, and I apologize for the frequent mispellings for Kana's name, which changes from that to Kanna. I keep getting confused because of the character Kanna in Avatar: The Last Airbender (which I also write for), Katara and Sokka's grandmother. I'll try to keep this character's name with one N, though.**

**By the way, I'm dropping a certain Beatles song title in here somewhere. See if you can spot it!**

_**Tales of the Fairies**_

**Chapter 8: Gildartz**

"The name's Liffy, ladies! Remember it!" said the man that had flirted with Kana. The men that were behind him gave all the girls creepy grins, brandishing weapons or glowing hands - some of these were mages.

"You picked the wrong group to mess with," said Lucy, brandishing her whip. She didn't even feel the need to summon.

"How bothersome," Polyushko muttered as Miki leapt to attack, ducking low under a sword and punching all the men around her in quick jabs. She decided not to use magic, too.

Kana dealt with Liffy herself, holding her magic deck of cards in her hand. Six cards flew out at him to slice the man, but he swatted them away with stretchy hands. He grinned and sent a long-ranged, solid punch at her, but she danced to the side and drew a single card. "Three of clubs - you lucky man," she said, throwing the card at him. He moved to dodge, but it vanished in a puff of smoke, and in its place were three wooden clubs which he barely managed to dodge.

"What was that, you crazy lady?!" he asked in shock.

"My magic deals with luck," Kana said with a smirk. "I don't know what will happen until I draw a card." She drew another. "Six of spades. Ouch." She threw the card at him again, but Liffy was more prepared this time. When the card vanished, six spears took its place and converged on him all at once. With his limber, stretchy body, he was able to maneuver around most of them, but one sliced a large gash in his arm.

"Agh! You're going down!" Liffy shouted at her in rage. Many of the club-goers fled the scene, and Polyushko followed Gildartz out while the other mages fought. Liffy threw two fists at her from clear across the room, wrapping himself around a silver railing with his legs.

"Lucky me - four of diamonds!" A red card levitated in front of Kana, vanishing to produce four protective slabs of diamond which defended her from attack. When his fists crashed against the stone, he howled in pain. "And now, for the finisher!" she yelled, throwing one last card at him. "Aw, crap - two of hearts." Instead of the desired effect of harming him, the card healed Liffy minimally.

He sprung around the club with his elastic arms, dodging the brawl that was happening with his underlings and the other Fairy Tail mages, and sent a stretchy kick at Kana from a fair distance away. She dodged.

"Well, I guess it's time for one of my strongest attacks," she said with a sigh, holding her whole deck. "Fifty-four Card Pick-Up!" she yelled, throwing the whole deck forward. It flew toward Liffy in a single mass, until it reached the middle of the distance between them, and every single card in the deck exploded outward. In a flurry of cards, few could see what was happening between them until all the cards fell to the floor, revealing Liffy on the ground, bloodied and beaten.

She looked around at the horrified men surrounding her, and smirked darkly. "Who's next? I still have another deck."

Lucy's whip wrapped around the leg of a man with a spear, right when he was sneaking up behind Arzak, and ripped it out from under him. She erected a barrier just in time for a blast of magic to collide with it, protecting her from harm. Arzak smacked one in the face with the barrel of his gun and kicked him away.

"Where'd Polyushko-san go?" he asked Lucy over the din. She watched Miki's fist send a man flying out the window as she answered.

"She went to follow Gildartz. I'll go after her!" Lucy yelled, striking another man across the face on her way out, trusting Arzak, Miki, and Kana to deal with the rest of them.

The Stellar Spirit mage emerged into a back alley, wondering where Polyushko went. She walked forward, suddenly fearing for her safety. They were in Arcana Town, one of the Dark Guild centers of the world.

No. She wasn't afraid. She had the power to protect herself now.

And then she heard the telltale ringing of magic down the street. She followed the sound, coming upon the outskirts of town and a dark, moonlit field. Polyushko and Gildartz were here, the latter looking tall and impressive now that Lucy saw him standing. His face was grim as Polyushko yelled at him.

"How dare you come to a public place like this, surrounded by women like that?!" she yelled at him, punctuating her sentence with a blast of green magic - the source of the noise.

"Hear me out, you daft old bat!" Gildartz cried, dodging the blow on surprisingly lithe feet for his age. He ducked low under another green beam of magic.

"The guild - and the _world_ - is in a sorry state, and you're here enjoying yourself in a club! What is wrong with you?!" Wherever her magic landed, black spots appeared in the grass, incinerating the patch it clashed with. Gildartz' dodging brought him over to Lucy, whom he smiled suggestively at.

"Hello, beautiful," he said, moving his hands as if to give her a squeeze. Her eyes widened and she leapt away from him.

"Get away from me, you perv!" she yelled.

"Gildartz, you're an old, irresponsible fool who does nothing and has not changed," Polyushko said to him darkly. "The members of Fairy Tail have been fighting and losing their lives, and you haven't even showed up _once_ in the past few years to check on them. Even _Makarov_ is dead."

Gildartz lowered his eyes. "I know."

"How can you live with yourself?" she demanded to know, as Lucy stood by her side in sadness.

"I have been helping," he suddenly said. "I haven't been sitting around in these clubs."

"Oh yeah?" Lucy asked him angrily. "How?"

"I have taken down at least fifty Dark Guilds," he said without flinching. "And that was in this year alone." Lucy's eyes widened and she stumbled backward in shock.

"So that's why..." she murmured, thinking back to guild reports and all the Dark Guilds that were suddenly and unexplainably disappearing.

"That doesn't excuse why you couldn't have checked up on your fellow guild members," Polyushko reprimanded him.

"I haven't been able to return to that guild since our falling out with Makarov so many years ago," he admitted. "Not for a long period of time, anyway."

"And whose fault is that?" Polyushko put forward.

"I'm not going to put the blame on anybody," Gildartz said, his silver hair still as perfectly spiked as it was before. "All three of us had our faults."

"No, it was all your fault - putting those insane thoughts in Makarov's head, trying to form your own plans for the guild!" Polyushko exclaimed. "And look at you, still residing in a town of Dark Guilds. You haven't changed."

Lucy was wide-eyed. "What... happened, all those years ago?" she asked fearfully.

"Do you remember when I told you that we were pulling the guild into three different directions?" she posed to Lucy, who nodded. "Well, the guild couldn't take the strain anymore and almost snapped."

"I have changed since then, Polyushko," Gildartz said to her. "I was an idiot and a child back then."

"Gildartz _wanted _us to become a Dark Guild, and almost convinced Makarov to do it. But he was still obsessed with weeding out the weak nonetheless," Polyushko said grimly to Lucy. "I was the only one who wanted us to be a guild to accept anybody and remain legal."

"But you were the most aggressive about it," Gildartz said to her. "Don't put the blame on us. Why does it still bother you? It's all in the past now!"

Lucy was reeling. She never knew Fairy Tail had such a dark and convoluted history...

"I have been well aware of everything that has been happening," Gildartz told them. "And I've been helping much the same way Mist Gun does. I have been gathering information. I've been fighting."

"The final straw came when Makarov and Gildartz came to blows and almost destroyed the whole guild in a struggle for power," Polyushko explained. "I couldn't take it anymore. I stopped their fight and I left." Lucy hung her head in sadness.

"I never knew Master was like that..." Lucy mumbled, thinking back to the jolly, yet slightly perverted but lighthearted old man the whole guild loved like a grandfather.

"He changed, too," Gildartz said to Lucy. "Don't let Polyushko tarnish your memories of him. She still has so much anger and hurt inside of her, especially after living alone all these years..." Gildartz turned to Lucy fully. "I am not like that anymore. I have changed. I am still in Fairy Tail."

"What do you know, Gildartz?" Polyushko asked him, her voice full of pain. "You left us, too. You ran away when it was all over, and I let you run. I never saw you again." The old, powerful woman was nearly reduced to tears. "You abandoned us, and we still loved you. _I_ still loved you."

Gildartz lowered his head. "I'm sorry."

"Hoohoo! Sorrow doesn't buy anything, it is cheap!" Gildartz, Polyushko, and Lucy all turned their heads to the source of the new voice, arriving from the other side of the field. Lucy was immediately on the defensive, golden key in hand.

"That's Hoteye of the Heavenly Eyes! He's a member of Oración Seis!" she cried. Her eyes widened when she noticed the other person with him. "And that's Midnight!" The other mage was fast asleep, as she always saw him, on his magic carpet. "Don't wake him up."

"Ahh, Lucy-sama, you have become wise," Hoteye said to her, smiling eerily. Gildartz and Polyushko stood at her sides.

"I've heard of this guy," Gildartz said to the two. "He's obsessed with money."

"Yeah. We've fought with him tons of times, but he always beat us because the rest of them were around," Lucy told him. She called out to Hoteye. "Where are the other three?" Blaine, Racer, and Cobra could still be a problem if they were nearby. And as far as Lucy knew, they had not replaced Angel since she and Erza had killed her.

"Oh, don't worry, they're not here," he said to her. "It has become too expensive for us all to travel together constantly. We've split up to cover more ground."

"To find the keys to Zeref's seal," she finished for him, narrowing her eyes. He laughed, amused with her. "And you're still trying to find Nirvana, I'd expect."

"Good, good," Hoteye said, nodding his head. His eyes glowed to signify his use of magic, and Lucy immediately leapt away as the ground softened to constrict Gildartz and Polyushko. Hoteye laughed at them as they struggled to free themselves. "You don't have your old masters to help you anymore, Angel Slayer," he said to Lucy, laughing at the new nickname. "Oh, that's a million-jewel name."

"That's fine," Lucy said to him confidently. "I should be able to hold you off anyway. Taurus!" she called, summoning her Stellar Spirit without use of the incantation. And then she cursed inwardly at her luck, because she couldn't summon anyone else without breaking the contracts she forged with them. Except for one, she remembered, cursing her luck again. "And, er... Scorpio!" She felt her golden key unlocking the door to the Stellar Spirit World, drawing upon its power.

Her newest Stellar Spirit popped into existence next to one of her oldest.

"Oooh, Lucy, how great to see your - "

"Finally, a chance to fight to prove to my new master how strong I am!" Scorpio bragged, punching forward at nothing with his red claws and interrupting Taurus' perverted comments.

"Watch out, you guys," she said to them. "Hoteye can soften the earth with his magic."

Hoteye grinned, and his eyes glowed again. This time, the soft ground rose up on all sides, threatening to fall down and crush them all. Taurus swung his axe and leapt above the attack, moving toward Hoteye to bring it down on his head. The ground snaked up and grabbed him like it was a coil of water, slamming him back against the earth, which softened and held him in place. Despite his strength, he couldn't pull himself free. "Moo..."

Meanwhile, Lucy used her Barrier magic to protect herself from the falling earth, while Scorpio relied on his armored body. The scorpion spirit threw himself forward on his spindly crustacean legs and rushed at Hoteye, his poisonous tail drawn high above him, ready to stab down on his opponent. He swiftly dodged the softened earth attacks beneath his feet, and was just about to strike Hoteye with his barbed tail when the dirt slammed into him when Hoteye's eyes glowed again.

"Ugh, how can soft earth be so powerful?" Lucy wondered aloud as she was forced to recall Scorio and Taurus. "Well, I do have a couple of other weaker choices left," she said, frowning. Behind her, Polyushko had freed herself. "Open!! Key to the Dragon, Draco!" The Dragon was a silver key, but one of the most powerful of those. Polyushko stepped forward with a green beam of energy which fired at Hoteye, who summoned soft, spinning earth to block the attack.

A feral dragon appeared at Lucy's side, roaring loudly and beating his leathery wings as he took to the sky, soaring toward Hoteye with his maw opened. Fire burned from his mouth, but the earth surrounded the Oración Seis mage and protected him from the brunt of the attack. The ground reached up for the dragon, but it skillfully flew from harm.

"I knew a flying spirit would be able to help," Lucy said triumphantly with a clenched fist, Gildartz stepping up next to her. Polyushko fired more of her nature magic at Hoteye while another beam of light fired from Gildartz's hand. When the attack was blocked by earth, there was a colossal explosion. "No way! Gildartz, is that your magic?"

"Yes, it is," he answered with a somewhat feral grin. "I use Combustion Magic. That should've dealt with 'im."

"I don't think so," Lucy said unsurely, watching the ground bubble from where the magics clashed. Draco flew away from the explosion above, but beat his wings patiently. "Is the ground... bubbling?"

"I fear we are going to see his true power," Polyushko said. Hoteye was visible when the smoke cleared, and he seemed the angriest Lucy had ever seen him.

"I hate to use my cheapest skill," Hoteye said to them darkly. "But you've left me with no choice. The cost of this fight will be high. You will all die!" He threw some of the bubbling earth at them, but Polyushko waved her hand and summoned more of her green light. This time, it coalesced into a huge, glowing shield which sizzled when the earth impacted it. "Hot Earth," Hoteye told them. "My true power!"

"It's like lava!" Lucy exclaimed, seeing the ground smoking all around them. "We've got to split up!" Lucy and Gildartz ran in opposite directions to surround the enemy mage, but the earth rose and threatened to topple them again. And this time, since it was burning hot, Lucy wondered feebly if she'd be able to defend herself from it.

Draco picked her up with his claws moments before the ground crushed her and threw her onto his back, flying high into the air. This gave her a perfect view of the battleground below her, until Hoteye decided to hurl burning earth at them in the sky. Draco weaved through the attacks to dodge them and returned a fiery attack of his own, but it was nothing for Hoteye to dodge. Gildartz, meanwhile, was throwing explosions everywhere, trying to overwhelm the Dark mage, while Polyushko was illuminated in green light as she fired her energy beams at him. Lucy almost couldn't believe the colossal power she was witnessing. Hoteye was really strong enough to fend all three of them off at once?

Numerous bullets of hot, compressed earth continued to be launched up at Draco and Lucy up in the sky, but several times she was almost thrown off of him because of his dodging. She held onto his scaly body with all her strength, but she wouldn't be able to keep this up forever... And then a particularly large glob of earth was fired at them, and Draco was hard-pressed to dodge as it was...

"Tornado Bullet!" someone cried from below, and Lucy suddenly saw raging winds spiral upward from the ground and eat up the attacks from Hoteye, protecting her. Lucy looked down at her savior, spotting Arzak, Miki, and Kana as they joined the fray.

"Watch out!" Lucy called down to them as the earth rose into a molten-hot wave. They managed to avoid the attack, but Lucy was distracted from a moment from her own problems, as Hoteye continued to attack. His eyes permanently burned red now as he was using so much magic.

This time, five diamond slabs rose to protect Lucy, courtesy of Kana's luck-based magic. Now, Miki was running straight at Hoteye while all the others used their magic on the ground, Lucy in the sky with diamonds. She pointed her finger at Hoteye, ordering Draco to attack again so Miki could get closer. She knew it was risky for Miki to attack Hoteye in close-quarters combat, but the girl was stubbornly refusing to use her magic.

"No!" Lucy cried out when Hoteye noticed Miki. Right when she pulled back to slug him across the face, a rush of burning earth impacted her head-on, throwing her several feet away from him. She stumbled to her feet, but she was covered in horrific burns. Polyushko immediately stopped attacking, now showering Miki in soft, green light.

"Potshot!" Arzak shouted, shooting a cannonball-sized bullet from his gun. Boiling rock was raised to defend Hoteye from the attack, but Arzak's magic bullet ripped right through it and impacted Hoteye, knocking him to the ground. "Potshot rips through any kind of defense!" Arzak said proudly with a smirk. While Hoteye was down, Arzak took the chance and attacked further, shooting a ferocious hail of bullets from his twin pistols, magically produced from his guns. The results of his attack were unseen as a wave of boiling hot earth rose to remove Arzak from the fight, but an explosive blast from Gildartz was enough to force Arzak out of the way.

Hoteye was standing again, still holding his book in his hands and gesturing forward with his fingers to attack, his eyes continuously glowing red. Gildartz hurled two consecutive explosions at him, blowing apart his defense, while more and more erupted on either side of him. He blasted away any attacks fired at him. Gildartz rather liked his predominant method of fighting - it removed specialized detail from his attacks, making his strikes refreshingly simple and easy. It was one of the most imprecise branches of magic and it suited him well.

But sometimes, precision was important. "I guess it's time to use my Curse magic," Gildartz said to Hoteye, both looking a little beaten. "You're stronger than I expected."

The red glow from his enemy's eyes finally died down. "I will kill you and get the bounty on your head," said Hoteye.

"Not if I can help it," Gildartz told him. He raised his hands, and suddenly Hoteye cringed in pain, grasping his casting arm.

"What attack was that?!" the Oración Seis mage gasped. "I didn't see anything!"

"I told you. It was the Bonebreaker curse," Gildartz said. "I'm specialized in curses and hexes. You've hurt these people for long enough." He incanted a long, drawn-out spell as Hoteye panted and grasped his arm in pain, his eyes wide.

"Such dark magic!" Hoteye exclaimed. And then he screamed in agony, falling to the ground and writhing.

"You are a horrible person and a sorry excuse for a mage. I've heard of the damage you've done to people and all the killing you've done in your greed. I feel that you deserve the pain curse and much worse," Gildartz said darkly. Polyushko glanced at Gildartz solemnly, while Lucy looked at him in horror.

"Stop!" she cried, seeing Hoteye continue to writhe in pain. She jumped off of her dragon and ran to him. "That's torture!"

"He'll just kill us, girl," Gildartz said to her.

Several feet away, Midnight stirred.

"But this is so wrong!" Lucy yelled. "I know we have to kill him. I've killed Angel, but... Not like this," she said mournfully. "Natsu wouldn't want him to die like this," she added quietly. "Just finish it quickly!"

"Fine," said Gildartz, ending the pain curse. Hoteye was on the ground, unmoving except for the rapid rise and fall of his chest.

"I'll do it," Kana said quietly, holding up a card. "I drew The Death." The card floated before her and glowed an unearthly light, releasing a bone-chilling wraith from within. It extended its claws toward Hoteye, which sunk into his chest and pulled out a shining red orb. Then, the wraith vanished, bringing the orb with it. Kana sagged in exhaustion. "I've never used that spell before..." Lucy averted her eyes from Hoteye's body. She knew of Kana's spell beforehand, and it only worked on weak enemies.

_Despite how evil they are, every time we kill one I feel like I lose a part of myself_, she thought to herself, hugging her arms.

"Look!" Miki shouted, pointing behind them. Lucy spun around to see Midnight standing in the center of the field, fully awake, his gaze dark.

And with his awakening, he brought chaos.

A swirling black void was behind him, shooting white lightning at them all. The mages scattered as Midnight's magic washed over them all.

"I don't think we can take another one of these guys so soon!" Arzak yelled above the storm of rage that was forming. "What kind of magic is this?!"

"It is Dream Magic," Midnight said calmly, his voice deep and almost alluring. "When I sleep, I dream. When I awake, everything I have dreamt comes to life."

"What a creepy guy!" Lucy called out. Jagged spires rose from the ground as the sky darkened, lit by brief flashes of lightning. The spires seemed to form strange, black, metallic trees, twisted into dangerous statues. Lucy was being separated from the others by these things, but she heard Gildartz's explosions being fired off in an attempt to blast these horrid trees to pieces. Holding up a golden key, she summoned Taurus again. "Cut those things down!" she commanded her Spirit once he was summoned back into her world. He hefted his gigantic axe to cut at the metallic trees, but his weapon bounced harmlessly off of them. "What kind of dream is this?"

Taurus was distracted from his task when skeletons rose from the ground, brandishing rusted weapons as they ran for Lucy. She threw up a barrier as Taurus' axe came crashing down on them, crushing them to pieces. "He's such a twisted person!" Up above, Draco was trying to get through the jagged treetops to reach Lucy, but he couldn't and let out a roar of frustration. Then he was struck by lightning, and fell through the trees anyway. "Draco!" she cried, closing his gate immediately, before he would crush her.

"Welcome to my Dreamscape," Midnight's voice echoed to them all.

* * *

**Author's Notes: This chapter is a bit short, but it's completely filled with action. Finally, Midnight's powers have been revealed. I only hope they're somewhat similar to this in the manga :)**

**Well, as of the latest manga chapters, this story is officially AU. Hoteye is NOT becoming a good guy in my story - I always found him sort of creepy. Also, Racer is still alive in this. Instead, Angel is the dead one. I have a question for you, reviewers... Should the remaining members of Oración Seis replace the ones that have died? I'll have to make up completely new characters to do that, though. Or I can take a few from Rave Master and make this into a sort of crossover story, lol. Well, not a full blown crossover - I can just steal a character or two. Like Reina! I kind of like her. If you guys do vote on me doing this, then I'll take Reina and an OC. Or two OCs. Or no one. It's your choice xD**

**As for Hoteye's strange new magic, I always thought that his original one was weak and weird, so I upgraded it a little. Strangely enough, I got the idea from Lluvia, who starts to use boiling rain when she gets angry.**

**Oh, and one last thing! The song was "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" - funnily enough, that is where Hiro Mashima got her name. I never thought I'd be able to drop that in the literal sense in this story - it kind of just happened.**

**Anyway, please give me your thoughts!**


	9. Dreamscape

**Author's Notes: Alright, I guess I was totally wrong about Angel. That was quite a surprise, and she used exactly the same Stellar Spirits I already introduced -.-, which means that my interpretations of Gemini and Scorpio were wrong. Oh, well... You may assume that Lucy received the keys of Gemini and Aries from Angel once she defeated her, though.**

**_Tales of the Fairies_**

**Chapter 9: Dreamscape**

"Welcome to my Dreamscape."

Lucy could not see Midnight, but she heard him. And his words chilled her, echoing throughout his whole twisted dream forest. Thunder and lightning continued to storm above, swirling around a black, cloudy sky. The metallic, leafless trees enclosed her, keeping her and Taurus from escaping. Even then, more and more skeletons rose from the ground, which Taurus fought to destroy.

"Come on... This stuff can't be real... He'd be too powerful if it was. He has to have a weakness!" Lucy said to herself. "But what could it be?"

The air in front of her warped and twisted, releasing the sound of broken space and time as Midnight himself appeared in front of her. "You are wrong, Lucy Angelslayer." His voice was soft, but dangerous, and he said her name with a bit of amusement. "I have no weakness. This is all real. My power is to make my dreams into reality."

"Taurus, get him!" she yelled to her Stellar Spirit. The Bull stomped over to them, hefting his axe, ready to bring it down on Midnight. But the Dark Mage didn't move, simply standing in front of Lucy with an amused smirk. The axe came crashing down, and it simply went right through him. Midnight yawned.

"You are boring me. I am tiring again," he said to her listlessly. He stepped closer to her, but her attempt to punch him did nothing, her hand simply sliding right through him like he was air. His hand caressed her face, but she didn't feel it. She was backed into one of the metal trees, and she could do nothing but stare defiantly into his face. "Such a pretty face," he breathed. "Your eyes tell me that you are rather vain, but you have seen much. You are unusually powerful for a Stellar Spirit mage, Lucy Angelslayer. You would do well in my guild."

She completely disregarded his words, staring straight at his face, which was so close to hers. "Everything around me may be real, but you're just an illusion!" Her hand went to her neck, pulling away a silver key. "Open!! Key to the Swan, Cygnus!"

Midnight was blasted away from her with the sound of the Swan's honk, removing the illusionary mage from existence.

Taurus grinned. "Moo, Lucy! You are so sexy when you are being strong!"

"Back to help you again, I suppose," Cygnus said in his nasally, bored voice.

She ignored both her Stellar Spirits. "That was just an illusion, guys! The real Midnight has to be around here somewhere!" She understood quite perfectly the danger of Midnight's power - he was mixing in illusions with his dreamlike reality, and it was almost impossible to tell which was which, but she had Cygnus, the only Stellar Spirit with the power to banish illusions. "Cygnus, stay with me," she said to the Swan. She directed him to one of the trees. "Honk again - if these trees are just illusions, we can get out of here!"

The sonic waves from the Swan's mouth dispelled at least a couple of the trees, revealing them as fake. She ran through the gap in her prison, coming to another clearing. It was as if this place was a maze! The Swan perched on her shoulder while Taurus followed behind.

The space to her side warped, and Midnight appeared from a portal again. "When midnight comes, those caught in my Dreamscape will fall into eternal sleep," he stated, darkly smirking, as if taunting her. She glared, and Cygnus banished him without a word.

It meant they didn't have much time left.

Several clearings and dead things later, they came across Miki, who was by herself and trying futilely to fight off another Midnight illusion. Pii-chan, the bird on her head, flew above the Midnight clone and dropped eggs on him, all of which had different effects. Miki was punching and kicking with an astounding amount of energy, shouting angry words at him while egg bombs dropped from above.

"I'll kill you, you girly punk!" Miki yelled at Midnight, who chuckled menacingly at her.

"So worthless... I might as well kill you now," he said condescendingly. He waved his arm slowly, releasing a ghostly wraith that moved to attack Miki with a long, crooked, dirty scythe.

"Miki, he's just an illusion!" Lucy yelled at her fellow mage.

"I'm afraid not," Cygnus sniffed. If he had a nose, it would be upturned. "The mage is an illusion, but that was real magic." He honked, dispelling the Midnight clone, but the wraith remained until Miki easily disarmed it of its scythe.

"I didn't need the help of the big-breasted idiot," Miki snarled at her, putting her gloved hands on her hips.

Lucy stomped her foot. "What did you just say?"

"I said you're a stupid girl who only cares about her big boobs!"

"You're just angry 'cause I saved your life!"

"Shut up! I can take you on, no problem!"

"Try it!"

"Mooo, this'll be good!" Taurus exclaimed, clapping his hands excitedly.

"How bothersome," Cygnus commented, rolling his beady eyes.

"Oh dear," said Pii-chan.

Both girls were interrupted from fighting further by a crack of thunder, which brought a torrential downpour of rain with it. Both girls became drenched.

"Blech, don't try to drink it," Miki said disgustedly.

"You drank it?! It's this guy's magic!" Lucy shouted, completely beyond exasperation with Miki. The water quickly filled the area they were in, nearly flooding them. Cygnus calmly floated on the surface of the water while Taurus was held down by his weight, but the water became deep enough to swim in unnervingly quickly. "Taurus, dismiss!" Lucy yelled to her summon, grabbing another key. _Yes, this water is actually a good thing!_ she thought with a grin. "Open!! Key to the Water-bearer, Aquarius!"

Aquarius, her moodiest Stellar Spirit, appeared, dunking water on her own body. "It looks like you're ready to become drowned corpses!" she shouted over the din.

"Help us!" Lucy cried out.

"Whatever you say," Aquarius replied with a smirk. She still had a bit of an attitude, but the two had come to respect each other over the years, and the death threats occurred much less often.

"Cygnus, keep honking!" Lucy ordered the Swan. Fake trees were removed from existence, letting the water under Aquarius' control seep away, carrying the Water-bearer, the two mages, and the Swan with it. The water slammed into the metal trees with astounding force. Lucy grinned - it appeared as if she was finally doing some significant damage to Midnight's world.

Dark creatures emerged from the rain and from the water, attacking her and Miki with their strong, scaly, dead grips. While Miki broke their arms, the torrent of water ripped them away from Lucy. "They're so gross!" Lucy and Miki cried together.

* * *

Kana threw forward her barrage of cards while Arzak shot at the skeletons' skulls with his perfectly accurate bullets. But it seemed as if Midnight had a neverending army of them from the ground - they just kept coming.

"This doesn't look too good," Arzak said to her with a frown, after shooting off a tornado bullet. "How are we supposed to get out of here before midnight?"

"Don't give up!" she yelled to him, slicing through a skeletal arm.

An image of Midnight appeared, regarding Kana and Arzak with an amused giggle. "Just give in... You will never win." He swept his arm, and multiple cuts appeared over Arzak's face, spraying Kana with his blood. Kana fixed Midnight with an angry glare, and Arzak wiped some of the blood off his face.

"You're a psycho," Kana stated to him.

"Perhaps," Midnight said coolly. "But my magic cannot be defeated." Arzak was panting wildly, trying to shoot down as many skeletons as he could with his magic bullets, but he was tiring as blood continued to leak from his face from unseen wounds. Kana threw a slicing card at Midnight, but it went right through his body as if it wasn't there.

"Arzak, he's just an illusion, and so is most of his magic," Kana told her companion. "That pain you're feeling isn't real. Throw it off!"

"You may be correct, Kana Alberona," Midnight said to her. "But what is reality, and what is illusion?"

"King of Spades!" Kana shouted, hurling another card at the mass of skeletons they tried to hold at bay. The card vanished in a puff of smoke before it reached them, and the King from the face of the card appeared - as flat as his image, yet wielding dual spears. He leapt into the crowd of skeletons, impaling them and crushing their bones to dust with sweeps of his weapons. Lady Luck seemed to be with Kana today - but she still needed to defeat this horrific mage in front of her.

Midnight slid in circles around her and Arzak from the air, chanting an arcane spell that tugged at Kana's senses and weakened them, making her arms feel as heavy as lead, her eyes impossible to keep open... "Rest, Kana Alberona. Just give in... Sleep..."

She fought it. She really tried. She put all her will into fighting off the illusion, but the idea of resting from all the fighting sounded so appealing...

Kana fell into a deep sleep, and she dreamed.

* * *

_Arcana Town was lively at this hour of the night as leery and suspicious mages visited the numerous pubs and clubs, drinking and dancing and partying until dawn and sometimes later. In a town that was a center for Dark Guilds, it was no wonder the crime rate was exceedingly high._

_Teru Alberona was sitting in a bar - one of the more raucous ones in town, drinking as much as he could take and more, watching the unpleasant dancers up on stage as he thought of all the terrors that Dark mages inflicted on him and his family. They were all over the bar, acting as if they owned the place, fighting anyone who had so much as looked at them the wrong way. Teru was an angry man, and even moreso when he was drunk. He ambled over to them and spat in the face of one of the mages._

_"That one's for my wife," he pointed out drunkenly to them, and he swung an off-centered punch, missing the man as he ducked and blasted him with an invisible blast of magic. From there, the fight - which escalated into an all-out brawl - was on._

_Somehow, Teru managed to escape the brawl and crawl home relatively unscathed, but angrier than ever._

_Kana always remembered her father taking out his anger on her and her older brother._

_Only five years old, she remembered him quite vividly. He always came home angry, scaring and threatening her. Often, he left his liquor laying around, and the curious girl often drank it, becoming horribly sick a little while later. Most of the time, though, she was afraid, and she never stood up to her father._

_But her brother did. He was eight years old and he protected Kana, ever since the Dark Guilds took their mother away._

_One night, Teru and his son argued, and it culminated in Teru throwing a punch at him, sending the small boy to the floor. Kana hid in a broken cupboard, watching the proceedings with wide eyes as Dark mages stormed into their house._

_"You still owe us a debt, Teru Alberona, and I never got you back for spitting in my face!" Some of them punched their palms, itching for a chance to strike at Teru without any repercussions. "Get him, boys."_

_And they did. Kana was terrified of their magic as they beat her father almost to death, and the little girl screamed._

_They found her. She didn't remember much of what happened next, because they hit her too, but her brother stood up to them, biting off the finger of one of the mages._

_And from there, her older brother was killed again and again in front of her eyes, and each time she saw it she screamed. Old pains were brought to the surface as Kana watched everything happen again from the sidelines, unable to do a thing. She fell to her knees, crying like a child, even though she was an adult now._

_"Kana, it's just a dream!" Arzak called to her, appearing at her side. "Midnight's doing this on purpose... He's drawing out your worst fears and pain. Don't let him make you weak!"_

_She saw the image again, trying to close her eyes and shield it out. She covered her ears, too, to block the screams. "I... can't..." she sobbed weakly._

_"Kana, please... You have to move on. You have to be strong, or we'll die, too. You're not the only one with a dark past. Everyone in Fairy Tail - even the ones who are no longer with us, had their stories. Let it go. We have to stop him!"_

_Midnight appeared in her dream, as the one to hurt her brother over and over again. "Rise up and fight, just so I can destroy you again," he said to her. "I want to destroy your dreams of victory."_

_"Get out of my head!" Kana shouted at him._

_"Shut up, sis! You're weak!" her brother taunted her, standing at Midnight's side. Blood poured out of his partly severed neck, but his eyes were filled with hate. And he kicked the younger version of her, causing the little girl to recoil in pain._

_"Kana, that's not your brother," Arzak said to her._

_"Get the hell out of my head, all of you!"_

_"Weakling."_

_"Loser!"_

_"Stupid drunkard!" the young Kana yelled at her._

_She screamed, her body becoming engulfed in an aura of magic, a force that pushed them all away from her._

* * *

Kana found herself on solid ground, back in the forest of metallic trees, waking up from her nightmare and finding herself right in another one. Her mouth was still open in mid-scream. Midnight was nowhere to be seen, but Arzak seemed to be stirring from a deep sleep. The King of Spades was gone, and only the scattered remains of the skeletons were proof that he was there.

"Good job, Kana," Arzak said to her softly. "You got him out of your head. And you hurt me a little bit, too."

She laughed quietly, taking the lull in fighting in stride. "Thank you, Arzak."

"What are nakama for?" he asked with a grin. She smiled back, helping him into a standing position.

"Maybe I will give you some advice for Visca," she said with a wink. He blushed in response.

"Look, some of the trees are gone," Arzak pointed out. "We must be winning against Midnight!"

"We've still got to navigate this forest and find the real one, though," Kana said unsurely. Arzak peered at her curiously, noticing that she was less brash and more down to earth than she used to be. It was a little alarming, and he hoped Midnight didn't hurt her too much.

Arzak clenched his fist.

* * *

"This place isn't natural," Polyushko said to Gildartz. "My magic doesn't work as well in this place." Her attacks did little against the horde of skeletons, leaving her to do nothing but form barriers to protect herself and Gildartz. The two had put aside their arguments long enough to defeat Midnight, but the old woman was not finished with Gildartz yet.

Gildartz continued to blast them all away with powerful explosions, or crumble them to dust with his bonebreaker curses. Even the metallic, artificial trees were no match for his spells, giving the two S-Class mages an easy path through Midnight's Dreamscape.

"Of course it's not natural, it's that psycho's twisted dream world!" he replied amidst magical blasts.

Polyushko rolled her eyes. "_He's_ the psycho, huh?"

"Yep!" he replied with a toothy grin. Polyushko dragged her hand down her face. "Tryin' to smooth out them wrinkles?" he mocked, to which he received a slap across the face.

Behind them, the metallic trees seemed to crawl to the side, opening up another path. Polyushko retreated through the opening, on guard and fully expecting an ambush, but she was surprised to see Midnight - the _real _Midnight - asleep on his floating carpet. In his sleep, his hands rose, and the roots of the trees rose with them. When his hands fell, they plunged into the ground, surfacing beneath the feet of the two old mages. Polyushko saw the attack in time and swept out of the way, but Gildartz received a deep gash on his arm. He didn't even curse in pain, and just looked at the Oración Seis mage.

Gildartz lifted his damaged arm and the blood simply levitated off of it, coming to a stop several feet away from Midnight's now prone body. The blood in the air formed an intricate rune which began to glow with low muttering from Gildartz. The glyph spun, releasing a burst of energy that was blocked by some kind of force field around Midnight.

"That's a strong shield if it can block my Blood Curse," Gildartz uttered. Polyushko put her hands together and summoned a green beam of light, firing it at the Dark mage, but they coiled before hitting him and dissipated away.

Polyushko didn't give up. "Nature Magic: Green Burst!" she incanted, as flares of magic heavily resembling fireworks exploded around Midnight's form. The continuous barrage of magic from all directions finally seemed to be enough for the shield, and Midnight was thrown off of his flying carpet, his body sizzling. He stumbled to his feet, his eyes opening.

"I am surprised you succeeded in awaking me," he mused to Polyushko. "Unfortunately, because I slept, I dreamt new dreams. This time I dreamed of angels."

"What the?" Gildartz asked, confused. "This guy really is a freak!"

The metallic trees, the skeletons, and the storm all disappeared as his Dreamscape faded, just to be replaced by a new one. In the distance, the two old mages were able to spot Lucy and Miki surfing on a wave of water with Aquarius, while Kana and Arzak seemed confused by this change of events. Now, however, they were free to regroup.

"What's happening?" Lucy asked, withdrawing Aquarius with a quick farewell.

"We have given him the opportunity to dream new things," Polyushko said to her gravely.

Miki punched the air. "I can't wait to see what this guy has to offer!"

Midnight held out a single hand, and they all tensed. But instead of darkness and storms, a startlingly bright light appeared in the sky, breaking through the night and seeming strangely comforting to the mages.

"What ... is that light?" Arzak asked, staring up at it. A figure formed out of the light that bathed them - that of a woman. And she was laughing. It was not the heavenly type of voice they had expected, but a dark perversion of it, an evil cackle that sent chills up their spines. As the woman materialized in the light and took human form, she touched the ground. She was blonde, with hair swirling on top of her head like a halo, and wearing white, feathery clothing. Two small creatures gathered at her feet.

Lucy staggered back, her eyes wide and her mouth hanging open. She clutched her keys tightly. "Angel..."

"Oh, Lucy! How nice to see you again!" Angel greeted happily. "And Midnight, I'm flattered that you'd dream of me." To this, the Dark mage simply nodded.

"You're... alive?" she asked in horror.

"No," Polyushko said sternly. "There is no magic to truly bring back the dead. This is simply a magical projection of the woman you killed."

"Not quite," said Midnight in his silky voice. "The real Angel had limited abilities. The one I dreamed of is unstoppable." The light, which still lingered around Angel's form, gave birth to dozens more of her, exact clones that laughed exactly in time with the original. Pairs of her small familiars came along with each. Once they were all there, the light faded away, but the Angels remained.

"This is going to be so much fun!" the Angels laughed uproariously. Every single one of the small familiars disappeared in puffs of smoke, creating clones of Lucy, Miki, Arzak, Kana, Polyushko, Gildartz, and even Midnight.

"Watch out. She imitates our magic, too!" Lucy warned her friends. "Open!! Key to the Scorpion!" she called, as Scorpio appeared at her side. He punched his claws forward readily, his tail twitching in anticipation. "Go!"

He needed no further command, scuttling across the ground toward one of the Angels, but a blast of magic from a Gildartz and a hail of bullets from multiple Arzaks stopped the Scorpion in his tracks, pelting into his toughened armor. He was blasted back to Lucy's side, and she was about to withdraw him, but he resisted.

"I have to prove to you that I'm a strong Stellar Spirit!" he yelled to Lucy, as Miki engaged in a fistfight with one of her clones while Pii-chan battled with several other Pii-chans above. Titanic blasts of green magic alerted that Polyushko was locked in a duel with one of her clones, while Gildartz destroyed the clones of everyone left and right.

"This is priceless!" the Angels chimed.

"They all have one obvious weakness," Gildartz called to them. "Midnight controls them all - if we take him out, they'll all go down!"

Lucy watched as one of her clones' barriers deflected Polyushko's blast of nature magic, and Arzak and Kana attacked clones of each other, trying to fight their way through to Midnight. And suddenly, before she could direct Scorpio to attack Midnight, a Lucy clone deactivated her invisibility spell right in front of the real Lucy, taunting her by sticking her tongue out. Before the real Lucy could do anything, the clone vanished just as easily, while another appeared right behind her almost immediately. That one used an invisibility spell, too, right as a third Lucy clone appeared.

"_Why_ did I learn how to become invisible?" Lucy sobbed. "Scorpio, what are you doing? Help me out!" To her great surprise, Scorpio seemed as if he was peeling off his nearly impenetrable armor with his claws, revealing a more human form beneath. "How are you going to protect yourself?!"

"I'm molting, baby!" he said, removing the disgusting, scuttling legs from his abdomen. When he stepped out of his old skin, Lucy was understandably shocked to see a fairly attractive man in surprisingly human clothes, with armored arms and legs. His tail had become more metallic, and instead of ending in a poisonous stinger, it opened to reveal that it was a gun all along. "Oh yeah!" he shouted. "This is the new me!"

"Okay, then! Attack!" she cheered. Scorpio complied, firing his gun which released bursts of energy in a laser, incinerating several of the Angels without any effort. Unfortunately, more appeared to replace the fallen. "Fire for Midnight!" she yelled, just as she received an invisible punch to the face from one of her own clones. In frustration, she let herself become invisible, hopefully solving that problem.

To her despair, a slab of diamond - courtesy of a clone of Kana's - appeared above her in the air, falling down on top of Lucy and all of her invisible clones. She managed to dive out of the way just in time, but her clones didn't, becoming visible as they were crushed. Lucy felt as if she was going to be sick. She looked up at the Kana that had attacked her, but the real Kana appeared and sliced her with numerous cards.

"I've got your back, Lucy!" Kana said to her with a wink. She disappeared in the brawl again, and Lucy took a moment to look around. Things had evolved into an all-out war between hundreds of clones, with all of the Angels in a protective ring around Midnight.

"You're goin' down, bitch!" Lucy turned to the source of the voice, groaning when she saw Miki. Truthfully, she didn't know if this was simply a clone or if it was the real one. Miki flexed her animal-like gloves and wore a snarl on her face as she settled into a fighting stance, while Pii-chan fluttered protectively around her head. Miki flung herself at Lucy, her fist pulled back to punch. Scorpio was too busy with hordes of clones to protect her.

So she summoned the only Stellar Spirit meant to be wielded as a weapon.

"Open!! Key to the Chisel, Caelum!" The strange Stellar Spirit materialized in her hands quickly enough for her to block Miki's attack like a sword, using Caelum's actual body as a hilt. The weapon was big and cumbersome, but Lucy practiced using the weapon as soon as she received the silver key. Now, she held the weapon in a sure stance.

The Chisel part of Caelum, acting as her blade, was swung down at Miki, but the fighter mage rolled out of the way, letting Pii-chan deflect the blow with a tiny, but effective, barrier. Pii-chan opened his little beak and released a spew of bubbles with popped upon hitting her blade, which she used as a defense, but it did no harm to Caelum. Lucy swung toward the clone of her friend, managing to catch her in the leg, making the girl revert back to a pair of Angel's familiars, which cried and fled back to their master. Lucy was given no time to reflect on her victory, when a green beam of light was fired at her from a clone of Polyushko. She groaned.

"Caelum, cannon form!" she shouted to her Stellar Spirit. The weapon immediately complied as the former 'hilt' turned into a gun, mounting itself in front of Lucy. "Fire!" A blast of magic ripped toward the Polyushko clone, but she blocked it with a shimmering green shield.

"Polyushko's opinion of Lucy - Powerful, respectable, and a good leader for the next generation of Fairy Tail," Polyushko said to herself, to which Lucy blushed. "Hm, it seems Lucy has gotten stronger since I last met her. And maybe a little less naive."

Lucy rolled her eyes to this.

"Angel, you don't... bear a grudge, do you?" she asked timidly. The Polyushko clone regarded her with confusion, but both were distracted by a torrential explosion of fire in the ring of Angels.

All of Midnight's Dreamscape spell faded from existence with the coming of the fire, and once the smoke cleared, all of the mages present were able to see why. Midnight himself was burnt all along his side, glaring with hatred at the new arrival.

"Natsu!" Lucy cried out in relief.

"I've looked forward to finally fighting this guy," Natsu said, his voice serious as he regarded his foe.

"Then you'll have to wait a little longer," Midnight responded quite calmly, gazing over them all. "I know when I am outnumbered. And do not forget, Natsu Dragonil - I will kill you the next time we meet." And in the same distortion that he used to terrify them with, he vanished just as easily as his illusionary copies did, twisting the air and color around him and simply vanishing.

Lucy fell to her knees in exhaustion, dismissing Scorpio and Caelum, while the others staggered or clutched the wounds they received.

"What are you doing here, Salamander?" Polyushko exclaimed in surprise.

"That's the Salamander? Oho! I'm impressed!" Gildartz regarded him.

"I'm here to save your old butt, that's what!" Natsu replied to the old woman, clenching his fists as red dragon scales seemed to form up his arm. "And I kinda wanted to come along to meet Gildartz." He jumped to Lucy's side excitedly, helping her stand. "So, didja meet him?!"

"Right here, kid," Gildartz said. Natsu peered closely at him, taking in his wild, spiky silver hair, his tattered cape, and somewhat scarred face.

"Nah, you can't be him," Natsu finally declared. "I imagined some old sage with crazy white hair that writes perverted books."

"_What_?" Lucy asked him in exasperation.

"You idiot!" Miki screeched, hitting the Fire mage in the head. "I was gonna take down Midnight!"

"Hey, I saved all your lives, you ungrateful psycho!"

"That's become a loose term lately," Kana mused. "Natsu, did you bring any ale with you?"

"Was I supposed to?" he asked her, ignoring Miki for a moment. Kana gave him a very sudden dark glare.

"Hey, don't ignore me!" Miki roared, bashing him on the head again. And he hit her right back, and then Kana joined in.

"Should we pull them apart?" Arzak asked unsurely.

"I guess their wounds aren't too serious if they're at each other's necks already," Polyushko sighed.

Gildartz watched them with wide eyes, pointing a single finger at the trio. "And they're in the same guild?"

Lucy, once again, sighed with relief. Natsu had come to save them all, when she thought she could protect herself. She smiled warmly at him, managing to pick his angry face out of the fighting.

No matter what, she knew she could always count on him.

* * *

**Author's Notes: Woo! What a chapter. Sorry for the longest update gap so far, but I had unexpected difficulty with this chapter. It turned out a lot longer than I thought it would be, especially since it was supposed to be merged with the last one. I refrained from putting the conclusion to the Gildartz arc in this chapter, because it would have seemed a bit rushed. They'll get back to the guild next chapter and close up all the loose ends, while things will segue into the next arc of my series :)**

**If you all noticed, I changed Scorpio in this chapter to make him canonically correct, but I kept from making Angel into a Stellar Spirit mage since I messed up on my prediction for Gemini so bad. Hope it's not too much of a problem, and that Midnight doesn't seem too powerful by bringing back a pseudo-Angel clone from the dead. I tried to make it fit in with his magic, and I think it worked.**

**Please tell me what you think!**


	10. Erza Takes Action

**Author's notes: Sorry for the atrociously late update. I've been too busy with tons of stuff, or stressed out, or whatever. But some reviews might alleviate that stress :) I haven't gotten as many for a while, but it's doubtful I'll get some more now, since it's been such a long update gap. Unfortunately, this story is backseat to my other one, so…**

**Also, and I know I'm being inconsistent, but I'm switching to the official translations of the names, now :/ Sorry if this confuses anyone.**

_**Tales of the Fairies**_

**Chapter 10: Erza Takes Action**

The trip back to the guild was eventful, but not boring. Lucy, and indeed all of the others besides Natsu, was absolutely exhausted from their two consecutive battles with Oración Seis mages. The Stellar Spirit mage, however, put on a smiling face for Natsu in an effort not to seem weak in front of him. That seemed to matter to her all of a sudden as he chattered away happily about nonsensical things, such as what Happy ate for breakfast. She didn't mind just listening to him talk – she had softened to him over his two years of absence.

In her tiredness, she stumbled and nearly fell, but Natsu cut himself off mid-sentence to catch her, giving her a sort of reprimanding look.

"I didn't know you were this tired! Why did you insist that we keep walking even though you were this weak?" he chided, slinging her arm over his shoulders. She flushed slightly at the contact, but anger grew at his comment about her being weak.

"I'm not weak!" she resisted, until tripping over her own two feet again. She sagged against Natsu. "I guess I used up a lot more energy than I thought back there…" she mumbled.

"I was beyond impressed by your skill," Porlyusica said to her approvingly. "You fought very well. Without you, the battle would have been more difficult."

"Hmph," Miki growled, crossing her arms and turning her head away, unsettling the poor bird's rest on her head. Pii-chan chirped in protest at his master. Miki, too, was definitely worse for wear – her leopard-print clothing was ripped in places, and she was favoring her right arm and leg.

Gildarts and Porlyusica, despite their age, were only tired from the amount of magic they had released, and had received little to no wounds. Lucy was astounded by them – they were truly the greatest of S-Class mages. Would one of them claim leadership of Fairy Tail once they returned? She didn't know if Gildarts would be suited to the position, or if he would be trusted by everyone, but if Makarov was like him once upon a time, Gildarts could be, too. If not, Porlyusica would probably have popular vote.

Alzack grumbled. "When are we going to get back?"

"Stop whining," Cana groaned, rubbing her aching head. "You'll see Bisca again soon."

"Natsu," Lucy whispered into her friend's ear. "I never really got a chance to thank you for saving us."

"Don't worry about it," he said, giving her one of his biggest grins again. "I gotta do what I gotta do." She smiled, and brought her lips to his cheek. The fire mage reddened immensely, his whole body heating up almost to the point of being uncomfortable for Lucy. "What was that for?"

Lucy flushed. "I don't know." Natsu's body was pleasantly warm, protecting her from the suddenly chilly air. And then Lucy's eyes widened. Someone was casting magic…!

She pulled away from Natsu just as he was separating himself from her, the fire mage hurling fire and Lucy erecting a barrier above the two, using the last of her magic reserves to protect them both. Snow swirled around them, obstructing the view of everything outside of Lucy's protective globe.

"Wait! Stop!" someone shouted, just as she heard the telltale sounds of magic from Porlyusica, Gildarts, and bullets from Alzack. The snowstorm died down and Lucy fell to her knees in the snow, totally spent. Natsu stood protectively over her. Lucy looked up at the newcomers, surprised at who they saw.

The one to cast the snow magic was Eve Thylm, of the Blue Pegasus Guild's the Trimens team. At his side was Ren Akatsuki. Neither of the two wore their formal suits anymore, having long since switched to more casual – and practical – clothing for their fights. Eve was clothed in a white and blue jacket and blue pants, with the symbol for his guild along his sleeves. Ren wore a black vest and nondescript matching pants, with bracers on his wrists.

The one to shout out was Hibiki Laytis of the same team, running toward them all from behind his two teammates. He glared at Eve and Ren disapprovingly, but smiled at the Fairy Tail mages. Hibiki alone looked the same as the last time Lucy saw him, donning the same suit, since he wasn't much of a fighter. She smiled back, having a particular fondness for Hibiki and considering him a friend. That is, until he blew a flirting kiss at her.

"Lucy, you look lovely as always," Hibiki said to her, while Eve and Ren were still standing around them suspiciously. Lucy's own teammates did not lower their fighting stances.

Looking down at herself, Lucy severely doubted Hibiki was speaking the truth. She rolled her eyes. "Why did you guys attack us?"

"These two have been more paranoid than ever," Hibiki said to Lucy and Natsu. Natsu lowered his guard, giving them friendly smiles.

"You've got nothing to worry from us!" he shouted.

Eve smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. We thought you might have been Angel's clones."

Lucy gave him and Ren a blank look. "Angel has been dead for months…"

But they ignored her, having taken notice of Cana and Miki, respectively. Eve was laughed at and Ren was promptly socked across the face.

"You look like you all just came back from hell," Hibiki commented as they all started walking again.

"Are these friends of yours, Lucy?" Porlyusica asked, while Gildarts stared at the Trimens suspiciously.

"Yes," she affirmed. "They're members of Lamia Scale, one of our allies. We can trust them." She glanced at Hibiki as Natsu pulled Lucy's arm over his shoulders again. "Are you three on a mission?"

Ren nodded. "We're actually on our way to your guild."

"It's lucky we ran into you!" Eve said brightly. "We would never have found it."

Hibiki looked at Lucy gravely. "We have information to report to Erza and the Fairy Council," he said solemnly. Lucy blinked.

"I am on the Fairy Council now," Polyushko told him. "You can tell me."

"I'd rather let Erza know first," Hibiki said.

"Sounds important," Gildarts commented gruffly.

Miki snorted. "Who cares? Let's get back, I need to rest and beat someone up."

Lucy rolled her eyes at her comrade. "So contradictory…"

"What happened to you guys?" Hibiki asked again. "Must have been some tough mission to tire you out."

Natsu grinned. "They took down Hoteye!"

Hibiki's eyes widened. "Of Oración Seis? He's dead?"

"Yes," Cana said to him. "Though Midnight came and almost took us all down. He's tough, really tough."

Hibiki, Ren, and Eve all looked down at the ground. "Hoteye… He's finally dead," Hibiki said, almost in awe.

Lucy gasped, suddenly remembering the significance of that.

Hoteye was the one to kill Ichiya almost a year ago. The leader of the Trimens was avenged. She didn't question how the three mages felt now.

The walk back to the Fairy Tail guild headquarters was in complete silence.

* * *

Max Alors pushed his neatly-cut blonde hair to the back of his head, sighing fitfully when it fell back limply. He didn't want to be outside today. Lately, he didn't feel like doing much of anything, but it was his turn to do his part for the guild, so he was on patrol duty in the forest outside of Magnolia Town, watching for anyone (friend or enemy) who wandered too close to the Fairy Tail Guild.

His ever-present confident smirk was gone these days, instead replaced with the solemn mask nearly every member of Fairy Tail wore.

Max's quiet musings were interrupted by the sounds of hushed whispering below him. Far above in one of the many trees, he couldn't see nor hear them correctly, so his body simply fell apart into thousands of grains of sand, falling harmlessly to the ground. Part of his body reformed from the pile of sand at the base of the tree, peering out at the new arrivals. Most of them he recognized, but some he didn't. However, they didn't seem to be hostile.

"Hello," he said to them, his voice flat and his hands in his pockets. He strode out into the path. Lucy greeted him with a weary smile. Cana Alberona was suddenly in front of him, gripping the collar of his shirt, glaring at him hard.

"Go in the guild and get me some alcohol. _Now_."

* * *

Lucy wavered on her feet as she and her teammates stood in front of the Fairy Council with the three Trimens at her side, but Lucy wanted nothing more than to get some sleep. But Erza demanded that they report the results of the mission to her. Hopefully, the Trimens' news would be intriguing enough to keep her from falling to the floor…

"We haven't had contact with Blue Pegasus or Lamia Scale in a few weeks," Erza said with crossed arms. "What is happening?"

"All is fine with our guild," Hibiki told her. "But… We have some very unfortunate news."

"What is it? And don't beat around the bush," Laxus intoned, leaning back on his chair. Gajeel, near him, had his arms crossed, while Juvia looked forward in anticipation.

"Our spies within the Grimoire Heart guild revealed that Gérard has left them to pursue the power of Nirvana on his own," Ren told them dutifully.

"We think Zeref is controlling his actions," Eve said, putting in his opinion.

There were various reactions of surprise, but Erza's face was stone cold. "How reliable is this information?"

Hibiki nodded his head. "Those spies died getting it to us."

"You know what this means, right?" Natsu asked them all, punching his fist into his palm. "Gérard is separate from all of them… We can get Happy and take him down!"

"Just one problem with that, hot stuff," Gildarts told him gruffly, poking him in the head. With all the people in the Fairy Council room, it was getting very crowded. "Zeref is too strong."

"And Happy is still untrained as the Holy Dragon Slayer," Mirajane pointed out.

"Natsu is right," Erza said calmly, her eyes closed and her arms crossed. "Gérard needs to be taken down now." Lucy stared at her friend in sympathy. It was obvious and left unsaid: Erza would defeat Gérard herself.

"I'll come help you," Lucy said to her.

"No, it needs to be done immediately, and you're still too weak after your last battle," Erza said to her, not unkindly.

"Then I'll help you beat him!" Natsu shouted.

"I don't want the help of my teammates for this," Erza said, lowering her eyes. "It's something I need to do alone."

"Are you crazy?" Gajeel demanded roughly, approaching her. "There's no way you can beat that psycho by yourself. This isn't a solo mission – the Council has to decide that together, don't we? And I say no." Erza glared at him, daring the Metal mage to cross her further, but she backed down.

"Fine," she said, barely above a whisper. "Natsu, you're coming."

"I think you need more than that," Mirajane said, butting her way into the conversation. "Zeref is taking over Gérard's mind, isn't he?" At Erza's reluctant nod, she continued. "So we need to get Zeref out of there and free him. To do that, you'll need a Mind magic expert."

Erza's eyes widened, but she tore her gaze away from Mirajane. "Warren can't… He isn't strong enough to go up mentally against Zeref himself."

"Give him some credit. He's grown in the past two years, just like all of us," Mirajane argued, approaching Erza. She placed her hands on her shoulders reassuringly. "Bring a few others along, too. You can do it. I know you can."

Erza's eyes became filled with determination and gratitude for her friend. "Fill out a mission report. Objective: Restore Gérard. Team Leader: Erza Scarlet. Attack: Natsu Dragneel, Warren Rocko. Defense: Max Alors, and Support: Lucky Olietta. Dispatch immediately."

"You got it! Get going!" Mirajane said, giving her a cheery smile. Lucy and Erza exchanged nods – _You'll be okay, Erza_, Lucy thought.

"Give me a moment, I'll download his last known position into your mind," Hibiki said, and suddenly Erza was filled with the knowledge.

* * *

Gérard stumbled forward, grasping his head, trying to force back the painful intrusions of Zeref upon his mind. He was making slow progress, but he was far enough away from Grimoire Heart to be safe. Now he had to just deal with the enemy he brought along with him.

And then he would be free…

* * *

Their carriage sped through the wilderness, Erza at the front, holding onto the reins and propelling it with her magic. She had no care for anything that was in her path, singularly intent on intercepting Gérard before he unleashed the power of Nirvana on the world. Max, Lucky, and Warren all used their magic in frenzied attempts to clear the way the best that they could, but Natsu was slumped over at Erza's side, clearly sick.

Hibiki's magic revealed the path Gérard was taking, but Erza had plans to ride to Nirvana first and cut across his path. She knew its general location – those climactic events two years ago were hard to forget – she just had to get there faster. Was he using his Meteor magic? If so, would he have gotten it already? She couldn't take chances. She surged more of her magical energy into the carriage, willing it faster and faster. She would be weakened after this, she knew, but she just didn't care.

* * *

Zeref's influence was too strong… He couldn't… He couldn't resist. The monster didn't take total possession of him – not yet – but Gérard was urged on more quickly.

"Meteor!"

* * *

"Look into the endlessly expansive air-sea!" Lucky cried in her horrible speech mannerism. "Is that him?"

Erza diverted her piercing gaze from the road in front of her, seeing a figure streak across the sky, ready to pass them… a blue-haired figure using his Meteor magic. She grabbed Natsu by his scarf. "Natsu!" The boy was alarmed, but before he could do anything, Erza hurled him into the air with all her strength.

Natsu was disoriented for a moment as the wind whacked at his face, but he was no longer on that dreadful vehicle. Reaching the apex of his height, he smirked, and fire exploded from his feet, propelling him forward and right into the oncoming Gérard. He pulled back his fist.

The clash of Gérard's energy and Natsu's fiery punch created an explosion large enough to be felt by the other mages below. Natsu's body emerged from the smoke, his form launching into the ground and the forests surrounding Nirvana. Gérard, knocked back considerably from Natsu's attack, was angered and went on the offensive with feral enthusiasm.

"Help him, quickly!" Warren shouted. Max and Lucky leapt from the carriage, the former speeding along the ground in a burst of sand while Lucky rode through the trees, utilizing her wood magic.

Erza, despite the drain on her magical power, was fastest of them all. Her Heart Kreuz armor fell away, being quickly replaced by her Heaven's Wheel. Her wings unfurled, she joined the battle in the sky.

"Fire Dragonslayer!" Gérard called, his voice being echoed by Zeref's. "How foolish of you to confront me without the other dragons!"

"He doesn't need a dragon!" Erza roared, suddenly appearing and swinging her sword with all the fierceness of one. Zeref maneuvered Gérard's body around the blow, but was forced to quickly duck underneath another horizontal chop. From underneath, the Dark Dragon Slayer threw out his hand, unleashing an orb of darkness that clashed against Erza's heavenly armor. She sliced through the magic, and Natsu took her place.

"Fire Dragon's Guillotine Kick!" The light of the fire and tremendous power behind it rocketed Gérard right into the ground, where he was caught by the thick branches of a tree. Lucky was there.

"Wood Magic: Constrict!" The branches of the tree all converged on him, but his dark magic exploded outward, incinerating the tree. "Wood Magic: Bark Enclosure!" Lucky cried, in an attempt to shield herself from Gérard's wrath.

"Sand Wave!" A torrent of sand smashed into Gérard, throwing him against the ground as Max rode by as if on water. As Zeref's black flames were about to attack him, Warren appeared with his hand held out, throwing Gérard against another tree with his telekinesis.

Natsu and Erza landed on the ground. "Have you got him?" Erza asked, her swords pointed at the possessed mage. Gérard writhed against the tree, held back by Warren's mental strength. The mind mage was sweating, using all of his power to hold him there.

"Zeref's influence is so strong… If you're going to do this, do it now!" Warren urged. Lucky plunged her hand into the tree, causing pieces of wood to bind Gérard's limbs in place while Warren prepared another spell.

"I'm ready!" Erza announced. Gérard shouted as he shook with the force of trying to unleash his own magic. "Do it!"

As Warren released his hold, Natsu and Max rushed the former Wizard Saint. Warren stood between Erza and Gérard, holding his hands out to both of them.

"Mind Link!"

Erza fell to the ground, and Gérard became limp.

* * *

**Author's Notes: A little short, I know, but I just needed to finish this chapter. It's been bothering me for months. I know by now that this has totally deviated from the manga, so you can now consider this AU. If there are any readers left, please review!!**


	11. Animus in Chao

**Author's Notes: Sorry it's been taking me so long to update, but this story has been getting harder and harder for me to write as it deviates more and more from the manga. I was incredibly wrong about a lot of things, and things like that really bug me.**

**In this story, Edoras never happened. I have my own explanation for Mystogan and Gérard, for the Dragon Slayers and the cats, and all of those things. It might be hard to read and understand, but I do like this plot; however, I don't know if I want to keep going with it.**

_**Tales of the Fairies**_

**Chapter 11: Animus in Chao**

Erza was in a cave.

No, it was a tunnel, dimly lit by hanging lanterns. Dust hung heavily in the rank, old air, and in the distance, she heard high, metallic clinking. She walked forward, peering all around her, wondering where she was.

Was this Gérard's mind?

After a few steps, a thick, iron door appeared, and Erza knew exactly where she was.

The Tower of Paradise. The mining tunnels where she spent her entire childhood as a slave.

This was where it all began.

"Erza-nee-chan, what are you doing here?" a high, childish voice spoke out to her. "Have you come back to help us? To free us from this place?"

"Miriana…" Erza said to the small girl, who somehow stood in front of her. "Where is Gérard? I need to find him. Tell me!"

"Gérard?" Another voice was speaking now, this one slightly deeper. She turned, and now Simon, as a child, was standing before her. "Why are you looking for him? I am the one who loves you…"

"So dandy! Erza's back!" Wally's voice. "Is she gonna kill all the overseers like in the movies? Like a hero?"

"No! I'm no hero," she said to him.

"What is big sis doing here?!" Yet another child appeared before her – this time, it was Shou. His eyes were wide and maniacal. "She betrayed us! She doomed us all to a life of slavery!"

"That's not true!" she protested. "You guys already know what happened…" But her resolve was weakening as old, painful memories were resurfacing.

"Open the cell door, nee-chan," Shou said to her, wide-eyed.

"I'm not listening to you. You aren't Shou," she said to him, as resolutely as she could. She folded her arms, almost protectively, looking down at herself. She was a child now, wearing nothing but ratty clothes, and now an eye patch was around her head. _But I don't need my armor anymore_.

When she looked up, Shou wasn't there anymore – instead, an older man was in his place, staring straight at her. His eyes were a piercing gold, staring right down into her soul. He had no hair on his head, instead having a long, black beard and thick, bushy eyebrows, his face one of cruelty and malice, his robes a deepest black, enshrouding his entire body. They seemed as if they were made of shadows.

"Black Mage…" she breathed, horrified. "Zeref."

"Into the cell, Erza," he spoke, his voice deep and resounding. He advanced on her, stepping forward, trying to push her into the iron door, which was creaking open.

"Where is Gérard?" she managed to whisper to the ancient man, but she was unable to hide her fear. The armored woman never felt this way… Never this afraid, never this helpless… Was this one of his dark magics?

She was pushed backward by an otherworldly force, into complete darkness – there was no room or cell behind the door. She was falling, falling… As a little girl suddenly afraid of the dark. She didn't know how long she was falling.

As she fell, she saw herself in the distance, utilizing magic for the first time to kill the slave overseers. She saw her beloved grandfather Rob dying. She saw Natsu fighting Gérard to protect her life. She saw her own selfless, vain sacrifice. She saw Fairy Tail falling. She saw Makarov die.

_**No.**_

_I can't let Zeref beat me. I have to resist. Warren warned me. If I lose my mind here, I can never return to my body._

She saw her child self leading the slaves to freedom. She saw Gérard, the heroic child who had inspired her. She saw Fairy Tail overcoming their enemies. She saw Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Happy, and Mira.

Her body was reverting back to its normal size. She had her armor again. She had her swords. _I can fight this!_

Erza landed in the middle of the black void, standing evenly on her feet, staring ahead. Dual blades formed in her hands. "Gérard! Where are you? I've come to save you!" she shouted into the darkness.

Somewhere ahead, she spotted a young boy, his hands chained, crying into his knees. She saw the blue hair and knew immediately who it was. "Gérard!" She ran forward.

She didn't know how, she didn't know when, but she was blasted backward by a surge of magic around the boy. Erza flipped once, twice in midair, falling with her face down. She stood shakily on the black nothingness, looking ahead again at the boy. This time, the outline of a golden-eyed face surrounded Gérard, large and all-consuming, the commanding presence that was holding her here.

"This vessel is unreachable now," the man's deep voice spoke, resounding everywhere and nowhere at once. "He is needed by me now."

"For what?" Erza questioned, her face blank. Her swords were held tight in her hands.

"For destroying the magical world and rebuilding it in my image – a world where dark magic runs abound, unrestricted, the full force of nature that our world was in ancient times. The world has not been pure since, and that time has long been forgotten. The time of ley-lines, of precursors and mana, crystals and power, need to be brought back. The seal of those ancients has lifted, and the world has been reborn into the way it has now but to die by my hand."

"If you think Fairy Tail will let that happen, you are sorely mistaken," she said, holding her blade straight out to him. "We'll stop you – whatever it takes." She was fully aware of the darkness all around her, threatening to engulf her being. This emptiness was Gérard's mind, and he was a prisoner within it. "Now… Give Gérard back to me."

"And if I do not?"

"You will die in countless and unimaginably painful ways, and I will do it myself," she boasted, hurling her weapon at the essence of Zeref with all her might, causing his magic to flare all around her blade and the point of impact. The dark presence shrank back, and Erza took the opportunity to dash forward to the little boy's aid, to free him from his chains, his nightmare…

"Wake up!" she called to him. "I'm here. It's all over. You're safe now." The boy continued to cradle his head between his knees, his blue hair shaggy and his clothes as ratty as the other prisoner children.

"The boy is lost," the voice intoned.

"Go away!" Gérard cried, and the child forced himself into a tighter ball, as if to ward away the evil.

"Gérard… Fight him off. You can do it – you're strong. This is _your_ mind," she urged him. Zeref was not an enemy she could just battle with her swords. He was so much more horrible than anything she had ever encountered. Lullaby and Deliora were nothing compared to their creator.

Erza cried out in pain as she was about to put her arms around the boy in a comforting gesture, thrown away by Zeref's magical force. The inky blackness all around her rippled as something – an arm, she could see – materialized in front of her. The appendage was sinewy, red, and had sharp talons, and the arm was followed by a body. The creature was diminutive with beady black eyes and jagged yellow teeth. The Knight held her sword in front of her, going into a combative stance as more and more of the strange demons appeared all around her.

She slashed at one, twisting her sword behind her and stabbing at another, while her gauntleted fist punched at another that sailed toward her head. A second blade appeared in her hand, but the tiny, unnervingly fast imps were completely surrounding her, close to overwhelming… Her armor wasn't Exquipping, her limbs seemed to be moving slower and slower…

"Gérard!" she called to him. "Fight him off!" She was disadvantaged here, totally under the control of the Black Mage, unable to utilize her magic fully… One imp leapt on her back, ripping and gnashing her hair. Her arms were held down, her swords gone. She couldn't fight them off…! "Gérard!"

A piercing, golden light broke the darkness and the pain that was surrounding her, nearly blinding the mage. It was a fire, and for a moment she thought vaguely that it was Natsu. Erza fell to her knees in relief – the demonic creatures were gone, and so was the little boy.

In his place was the full-grown Gérard, garbed in the dark longcoat, a golden fire in his hand. "The Flame of Rebuke," he muttered to himself.

"Gérard…" she said to him, smiling. "You're back."

"Erza…" he began, but a storm of dark energy caught him by surprise. It was twisting, floating, reeking of evil that was far, far worse than anything she ever felt from the likes of Jose Porla or Zero of the Oración Seis. From the maelstrom Zeref appeared to them. "Erza…" Gérard repeated. "You don't have to be here. Why are you helping me, after everything I've done…?"

"You are my nakama, no matter what. And you don't have to face him alone. I am here," she said to him. "We can vanquish Zeref together." Her sword appeared in her hand again, and she held the point of the blade to the Black Mage himself. "I will not stand for your existence!"

She launched herself at the sorcerer, slashing her sword diagonally, coming up in fierce thrusts, stabs, and lunges, all of which he managed to dodge just barely. She managed to surprise him at first, but Zeref quickly regained his composure. Gérard, too, was surprised by Erza's sudden action, but he clenched his fist in determination. They could do this.

Zeref warded her off with a blast of magic, the brunt of which she managed to block, but it was enough to give him space.

"You cannot hope to overpower me, Titania," he said to her.

She lunged at him again, drawing back just in time for Gérard's own magical attacks – spurts of golden energy – to make contact. Zeref seemed relatively unharmed, but he clearly made grunts of pain nonetheless.

"You're only at a fraction of your normal power," Erza said to him. "You're just inside Gérard's mind. You're still sealed." _We can beat you_. But if Zeref was this strong at such a fraction of his power… She didn't want to imagine what they'd have to face if he was ever unsealed.

"And Gérard cannot hope to defeat me in this weak state," Zeref continued.

"Seven Star Sword!" Gérard called out at that moment, as if to prove him wrong. Seven spears of light converged on the Black Mage, causing him real pain for the first time. "Get out of my head!" The Heavenly Mage burst forward with his Meteor magic, slamming into Zeref with all of his power. The robed mage was blasted backward, giving Gérard room to cast another spell. "Flare!" he incanted, slicing with his arm. An explosion of fire erupted beneath Zeref's damaged form. The dark void all around them seemed to shake and flicker in and out of existence, clearing and letting her see. Erza felt as if she were standing in outer space with Gérard.

Planets – enormous, distant, many-colored planets – loomed all around them, one or two with dusty rings. Behind Gérard, she could even see the sun, which wasn't blinding her in the least. But the greatest thing was the sheer number of stars, twinkling with life and vibrant energy above, below, and all around them. A flaming meteor even soared by beneath the three mages.

"Zeref… How are you still alive?" Erza asked aloud, as the dark mage forced himself into a standing position. All three of them seemed to be standing on an invisible platform.

"He cannot be killed here," Gérard answered, glaring at the man that had tortured him for years. "Only expelled. Do not stop attacking."

The two mages rushed forward to surround Zeref on both sides, letting out shouts that were almost primal in their intensity. A golden beam of energy erupted from Gérard's hands after Erza slashed the Black Mage across the chest. The point of impact from Erza's weapon surged with evil, dark energy, forcing her back with great force once again. Zeref screamed, the volume of which was painful even to Erza, who fell to her knees and had to cover her ears. She looked up at Zeref, whose eyes were bulging, his arms and legs outstretched, with darkness shooting out of the wound she had inflicted.

Gérard stood in opposition to him, golden light once again surging from his hands, fighting back the darkness, parting it as if it were water. He forced his way closer to Zeref, pushing against the dark power as the mage continued to scream in agony. The golden light that had split the darkness caused it to shoot out in all directions, barely missing Erza, but with each tiring step Gérard was able to get closer and closer to Zeref.

"Don't give up…" Erza told him under her breath. "Keep fighting. I believe in you."

The golden magic struck Zeref in the heart.

Once contact was made, Zeref's screaming suddenly died out, replaced by a loud ringing noise, and his body seemed to fade away.

All she saw was white.

* * *

Warren had told Natsu that Erza – and hopefully Gérard – would wake up on her own, freeing the former Wizard Saint and Magic Councilman of Zeref's dark influences. Natsu didn't know how he would stand with Gérard once this was all over and done with – he had already done so much to hurt them, and had even killed Erza's old nakama, Simon.

He paced, and he waited impatiently. Both Erza and Gérard were lying motionless at the base of the tree he was previously bound to.

He heard Erza the moment she stirred.

Her eyelids fluttered open, seeing first the blue sky, and then the warmth of Natsu's eyes as he eagerly looked over her.

"Her lips are curved," Lucky said, noticing Erza's smile in her odd way. Max crouched down next to her.

"Did you win?"

"Gérard's mind seems to be cleared," Warren answered, standing stoically. "Mission successful."

With slight clinking of her armor, Erza sat up, smiling in gratitude to Natsu and looking down to Gérard. His eyes were opening slower than hers were. _But it's him. He's really here_, she thought to herself. She laid an arm on his shoulder.

He was fully conscious, but did nothing except lay and stare at the clear sky. He outstretched a gloved hand after a moment, as if hoping to pluck a cloud right out of the sky. Warren, Max, and Lucky nervously took a step back. "He is gone," Gérard finally said. "Zeref is finally gone."

"Are you alright?" Erza asked him, as Natsu inspected him closely.

Gérard sat up, and turned to stare at Erza fully, ignoring the presence of everyone else. "Erza… Thank you." Her arm, resting on his shoulder, fell to cover his hand.

"I'm here for you," she said to him earnestly. He looked down at their joined hands, and averted his eyes.

"I don't see why you would do this for me… After all I've done…"

Erza furrowed her brow, and quicker than anyone could blink, punched him across the face. Natsu widened his eyes in fear and the other three Fairy Tail mages leapt back several more steps.

"Don't ever think that," Erza said to him sternly. "That was all Zeref's fault. You had no control over anything you did, and don't let me ever hear you mention that part of your past again."

Gérard braced himself from slamming against the ground with his arm, using his other hand to rub his already bruising cheek. "The rest of the world doesn't know that. I am considered a SS-Class criminal, am I not?"

"Join Fairy Tail," she told him, much to the shock of her companions again. "We are hidden from what little government this world has left, and we will take full responsibility for your actions."

"You would really accept me?" he asked.

"I'm asking, aren't I?" she said, crossing her arms. "Don't make me hit you again."

"Watch out, man. She will," Natsu warned.

"You have helped in a small battle against Zeref, and I know you will continue to help us in our fight against the Balam Alliance. You don't have much of a choice, and any intelligence you have picked up from being in Grimoire Heart would aid us greatly," she continued.

"Joining a mage guild, huh?" he said to himself. He looked up at Erza and smiled. "I see. I would like to join Fairy Tail."

"Your request will be put into consideration and you will get your result once the Fairy Council decides," she said. Her business-like demeanor dropped, and she hugged him. "I am so happy to see you again."

"All right! I'm all fired up!" Natsu exclaimed, standing up straight and punching his palm. "Let's get back to the guild! Any friend of Erza's is a friend of mine!"

Lucky giggled at his enthusiasm while Warren and Max rolled their eyes and scoffed at him, but Erza smiled at him in gratitude.

It was time to fight back against the Alliance.

* * *

**Author's Notes: Hehe, a lot of people are joining/rejoining the guild in this story, aren't they? We started off with Wendy and Charle, and then Laxus, Porlyusica, Gildarts, and now Gérard. Don't worry… There will only be one more xD**

**By the way, the title of this chapter means "Mind in Chaos." It's in latin, but it's grammatically incorrect, but "Animus in Chaom" sounded kind of dumb. Latin is such a cool language. I'm currently studying it!**

**Anyway, hope I didn't lose any readers over the update gap. Please review if you're still there!**


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